A national report assessing fast-growing, women-owned businesses ranked Maine 47th out of 50. But the survey showed women-owned business here are still on the rise.
The third annual Women-Owned Business Report commissioned by the New York-based American Express Co. estimates that Maine will have 40,500 companies, employing 30,000 people, that are owned by women this year. That women-owned business total includes employer and non-employer businesses.
That’s up from 30,598 women-owned businesses in 1997, a 32.3% jump, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. But other states have seen greater increases. For instance, in the District of Columbia the number of women-owned businesses is expected to increase 65.2% over the same period.
The report projects the number of women-owned firms in Maine will jump 5.2% from 38,490 in 2007 to 40,500 in 2013.
That’s in line with a general 3.8% projected increase in the total number of businesses in the state, from 150,480 in 2007 to 156,300 this year.
The share of women-owned firms will increase just slightly over the same time period, from 25.5% to 25.9% of all Maine firms.
The study’s rankings also assessed the revenue and employment growth at women-owned businesses. Women-owned businesses in Maine grew 32.3% since 1997, revenues grew 12.9% and employment 6.1%.
See how Maine’s women-owned businesses stack up in the full report and in the historical census data below:
