Welcome to our 2011 special issue introducing you to some of the ‘Successful Women in Business’ that make up our thriving community. For nearly a quarter of a century The Valley Business Journal has been providing our readers the most up to date business news in the Temecula Valley. During that time we’ve seen four local cities born and a host of businesses grow up to support the burgeoning population of Southwest California.
In the United States, nearly all net job creation since 1980 has been generated by firms operating for fewer than five years—and that number is only likely to rise. Between 1997 and 2002, female-led firms grew by nearly 20 percent, while overall firms grew by just 7 percent. By 2005, women represented more than a third of people involved in entrepreneurial activity, and the number of women-owned firms continues to grow at twice the rate of all U.S. firms. According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, there are currently 84,937 women owned businesses in the region.
During the most recent economic downturn, officially designated as falling between 2007 and 2009, job losses among men outpaced women by nearly 3 to 1, leading some wags to refer to it as a ‘mancession’. And although some of that dis-equilibrium had been offset by recent job growth, it would not be a stretch to say that female entrepreneurship will be one of the driving forces of our economic recovery.
“Any economist will tell you, the job creation we need to fuel any kind of middle class is not going to come from corporations, it’s going to come from small businesses,” according to Harvard business professor Nancy Koehn. “With that in mind, what we need to start thinking about is how we capitalize on this vast network of women entrepreneurs. How do we nurture them? How do we fund them? How do we use this national asset?”
A new book out by Maddy Dychtwald titled ‘ Influence’, points out, American women are responsible for 83 percent of all consumer purchases, they hold 89 percent of U.S. bank accounts, 51 percent of all personal wealth, and are worth more than $5 trillion in consumer spending power—larger than the entire Japanese economy. On a global level, women are the biggest emerging market in the history of the planet—more than twice the size of India and China combined. It’s a seismic change, and by all indications it will continue. According to The Work Buzz, of the 15 job categories expected to grow the most in the next decade, all but three are filled primarily by women.
The California business climate has grown less friendly to all businesses during the past decade making it more and more challenging to start up and grow a successful business. But the women you will meet in these pages have been local pioneers, entrepreneurs and contributors to many of the finest businesses in our community, as well as civic and elected leaders. We hope you enjoy meeting them on these pages.