South Carolina’s number of women-owned businesses increased from 99,458 in 2007 to an estimated 167,000 in 2018, a 67.9% increase that ranks fifth in the nation, a recent survey found.
The state ranked 28th nationally with a 12.6% increase in jobs created since 2007 in the eighth annual State of Women-Owned Businesses Report. It also ranked 45th nationally in growth of firm revenues at 14.4%.
The survey, commissioned by American Express and conducted with data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, found that South Carolina’s women-owned businesses employ 113,000 workers and generate more than $16 billion in revenue.
The report tracks data from 1972, the first year the U.S. Census Bureau provided data on minority and women-owned businesses. Nationally, the number of women-owned businesses increased 31 times in that time period, from 402,000 to 12.3 million. Employment grew from 230,000 to 9.2 million and revenues rose from $8.1 billion to nearly $1.8 trillion.
Written by Columbia Regional Business Report Staff