Hearing Planned Thursday, November 13, On Issues Facing Women Business Owners

STAMFORD –– The state legislature’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW), in association with the Connecticut Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO-CT) and the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC), will convene a public hearing on Thursday, November 13, to gather testimony about the issues facing women business owners in the state of Connecticut.

The hearing will be held from 6 to 8 pm in the Stamford Government Center Cafeteria, 888 Washington Boulevard.

 A transcript of this hearing will be available to the Connecticut General Assembly and the PCSW will prepare a summary report.

Any interested individuals may testify by submitting oral and/or written testimony. For oral testimony, sign up will begin at 5 pm that day. People wishing to testify are asked to bring 15 copies of their testimony, if possible. Written testimony will also be accepted after the hearing date and may be submitted by mail to the PCSW, 18-20 Trinity Street, Hartford, CT 06106 until Friday, November 21.

There are approximately 78,366 majority-owned, privately held women business owners in Connecticut and this accounts for 27 percent of all the privately held firms in the state. Nationally in 2002, Connecticut ranked 26th in the number of women business owners.

Nationally, one in every eleven adult women owns a business.

The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Women’s Business Research reports the number of privately held businesses that were at least 50 percent women-owned grew 11 percent between 1997 and 2000. That is 1.5 times the rate of privately held companies in general. Access to capital remains a critical issue for many women business owners, and there is an increasing focus on access to growth capital. In a 2001 study, the Center for Women’s Business Research noted that women owners of faster growing firms placed greater importance on access to capital as a business issue and were more likely to use capital to fuel their growth. Additionally, more and more women business owners are investigating how they might gain access to equity capital.

The Permanent Commission on the Status of Women was established by the Connecticut State Legislature in 1973. The commission studies all matters concerning women, informs leaders about the nature and scope of discrimination, serves as a liaison between government and private interest groups concerned with services for women, promotes consideration of women for governmental positions and works with state agencies to assess programs and practices as they affect women. Women business owner issues are a priority with the commission.