ABSTRACT
According to data from recent United States census estimates, there are roughly 2.3 million women in South Carolina and 2.2 million men. These women own 76,879 businesses, of which nearly 12,000 employ others. Those businesses have sales of US$9,456,770 and a payroll of US$1,927,919 (US Census Bureau, 2006). The state with the greatest percentage of women who own businesses is Vermont, with 6.10 percent. Mississippi ranks the lowest with 3.21 percent. South Carolina has 3.68 percent. Compared to the other states in the country, South Carolina ranks 45th in the percentage of women-owned firms, but 18th in the percentage of women-owned firms that employ others. Of all of the women-owned firms in the US, 14 percent on average have employees. In South Carolina, 15 percent have employees. The rate of growth of the women-owned firms in South Carolina is just below the US average of 19.8 percent at 19.6 percent; this ranks the state 11th overall in the US (Mittelstaedt et al., 2008).
