Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 13, 1994 TAG: 9402140325
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LIN CHAFF
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In the eye of this soul-searching economic hurricane swirl numerous hypotheses of where the Roanoke Valley went wrong in the past, how we can compete in the present, and what direction to take for the future.
As a participant in this regional self-examination, I am amazed that, with few exceptions such as the conference center at the Hotel Roanoke, only lip service has been paid to nurturing and attracting the fastest growing segment of the economy - women!
Women business-owners are creating an economic revolution. We are the fastest-growing segment of the economy, employing more people than all the Fortune 500 companies combined. Women will own half of all U.S. businesses by the year 2000, says a recent study by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business.
Some are cottage industries for the purpose of staying close to family. However, nearly half have gross sales of more than $250,000; nearly a fifth, of more than $1 million. They average an annual payment of $36,500 in taxes.
Women-owned companies are no longer a new phenomenon. More than 40 percent have been in business 12 years or longer, according to a member survey by the National Association of Women Business Owners.
Who are we? Nearly half of us in the association are between the ages of 40 and 49. Two-thirds of us are married. About 40 percent of us still have one or more children at home. We are well-educated.
We operate in all industries, from construction to manufacturing to agribusiness to wholesale trade, and provide significant employment in all areas. Women-owned firms show particular strength in retail trade, and in business and professional services.
There are plenty of data to show that women business-owners are a vital force in shaping the emerging national economy.
Our influence is not only economic, but social as well. We reflect a generation of women who reject the traditional practice of distancing family lives from work lives, as though families were merely a distraction. Both are integral parts of our lives.
Almost half of us offer not only benefits, but flextime as well. Women business owners try new family-oriented benefits: Fourteen percent offer telecommuting; 14 percent offer paid time off for attending sick family members; 11 percent offer job sharing.
For both corporations and government, this research provides important new information about one of the fastest-growing economic markets in the United States and introduces themis an introduction to a viable source of new strategic partners in every area.
Savvy venture capitalists, governments, banks and major corporations such as AT&T, wishing to cash in on this new economic power and potential, have made attracting women-owned businesses a major priority, assigning staff for this purpose. Currently, 40 percent of all executive and managerial jobs are held by women. One study shows that when women leave such jobs to start their own businesses, they search for environments where gender doesn't impede advancement or where they have flexibility to balance work and family demands.
What is the reputation of the Roanoke and New River valleys as a gender-blind environment for entrepreneurs?
What is the message our governments, economic-development groups and corporations are sending, both consciously and unconsciously, to the fastest-growing segment of our nation's economy? That women are welcome and well-represented? Or that women are tolerated as tokens?
How many women are represented on the Roanoke Valley's corporate boards? What is the area's stance on nurturing women-owned business and attracting others? How are women represented in decision-making in areas such as health care, downtown revitalization, tourism, government and our region's future?
A professional marketing plan targets the hottest prospects. How many of our leaders understand that the issue of the "working woman" is no longer a debate but a necessity for this region's growth and vitality?
As we continue our soul-searching process of where other areas have succeeded and where Roanoke needs to go to grow, may we hope that the message from our leaders to women business-owners is: "Welcome. We want you as partners because we both stand to gain a lot."
Our future and the future of our children are at stake.
\ Lin Chaff of Roanoke owns Lin Chaff Public Relations & Advertising and is co-author of "The Insider's Guide to the Blue Ridge of Virginia."
by CNB