Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 28, 1995 TAG: 9506280046
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: F.J. GALLAGHER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When Rebecca Pollard first attended a meeting of the National Association of Women Business Owners, she was skeptical, figuring the group's local chapter would hold just another gathering of self-congratulatory business owners.
"I've been in other business organizations before and they were fluff," said the owner of Corporate Concepts Inc., an insurance consulting firm. "I felt that they weren't really accomplishing anything."
Yet, Pollard joined after attending her second meeting, deciding it reflected what some have called an important trend in American business. Tonight at the Hotel Roanoke, the chapter marks its third year and a membership that has grown from an initial handful of women to more than 40.
The number of women-owned businesses in traditionally male-dominated areas has grown at rates far outpacing the industries' overall growth rate, according to statistics compiled by the association's research arm, the National Foundation for Women Business Owners. In the period between 1991 and 1994, it says the number of women-owned manufacturing businesses increased by 13.4 percent; transportation and communications operations rose by 18 percent; construction firms rose by 19.2 percent, and finance and real estate operations owned by women increased by 21 percent.
"I can think of women who own environmental consulting firms and collection agencies," said John Jennings, the director of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce's Blue Ridge Small Business Development Center. "There's a whole cross-section of businesses that women are involved in."
Indeed, according to the foundation, more than 7 million women-owned business employ nearly 12 million people.
Five years ago, women comprised only 17.1 percent of the people who sought advice from the center. Now, Jennings said, that number has risen to 32.1 percent for 1995, down from last year's 36.8 percent.
As a result, organizations like NAWBO that offer an alternative to the traditional "old boy" network have seen memberships increase dramatically.
In addition to providing a forum for discussion about issues confronting women business owners, such as difficulty and discrimination in obtaining financing and credit, the chance to make new contacts stands as the primary reason why most women choose to join the association, said the Blue Ridge Regional Chapter President Deborah Oehlschlaeger.
"I realized that women don't have the same networking opportunities as men," Oehlschlaeger said of her decision to get involved. "This gives new business owners a chance to mix with established business owners."
The local chapter so far has solicited members mostly through word of mouth, Pollard said, adding that it was a friend who first told her about the group. She in turn has recommended it to several of her female clients who own businesses.
Ultimately, Oehlschlaeger and Pollard would like to see every woman who owns a business become involved.
"Being a female in the business world, and in my case a primarily male-dominated industry," Pollard said, "we have to work a little harder."
by CNB