Women in business
Local activity, national reflections
by Nelda Holder
The Mountain Xpress Women in Business supplement celebrates three key forces at work in the Asheville-area economy: the primacy of the local, the success of the "small" and the entrepreneurial talent of women.
The business owners in the following pages are primarily involved in local commerce, but they're also part of a national wave of grass-roots small-business activity. According to the Center for Women's Business Research in Washington, D.C, there are some 10.4 million women-owned firms in the United States, which together employ more than 12.8 million people and generate $1.9 trillion in sales. Women-owned firms have grown at around twice the rate of all firms in the past two decades.
Other research findings (available in the center's 2008 "Key Facts About Women-Owned Businesses," online at www.nfwbo.org) highlight the characteritics that help set these businesses apart: They're prepared to take substantial risks; they put special emphasis on relationship-building and fact-gathering; and they're willing to adopt new technology to propel their enterprise.
A number of the women business owners featured in our 2008 supplement tell the stories of their road to entrepreneurship. We hope you enjoy their reflections.
