Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Utah Women & Leadership Project White Paper

Volume

7

Publisher

Utah Women & Leadership Project

Publication Date

10-5-2022

First Page

1

Last Page

30

Abstract

Twenty-five years ago, in 1997, Utah’s Women’s Business Center, in partnership with the Utah Technology Finance Corporation and Small Business Administration, sponsored a comprehensive survey of Utah women business owners.1 The purpose of the study was to better understand the specific roles women-owned businesses play in Utah’s economy. It was hoped that the research would stimulate a rich dialogue within the business community regarding the nature of women-owned businesses and better anticipate future needs, and this is indeed what happened. The 1997 report addressed four questions:

  1. What is the economic power of women business owners in Utah?
  2. What are the characteristics of women-owned businesses in Utah?
  3. Who are Utah’s women business owners?
  4. What types of assistance do women business owners want and need?

More recently, in 20162 and 2020,3 the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) published research and policy briefs on the status of women and entrepreneurship in Utah. These reports compiled national and local data to provide snapshots of how women in Utah were building and growing successful businesses during those years. However, the briefs lacked the in-depth gathering of original primary data that typified the 1997 study.

Finally, to see what, if any, changes have occurred for women-owned businesses in Utah since the 1997 report, the UWLP partnered with the Women’s Business Center of Utah (WBCUtah) in 2022 to conduct an in-depth survey of women business owners to discover where progress had been made and identify areas needing additional attention. Hence, the purpose of this white paper is to provide an update on the four questions asked in 1997 (see above) and to expand the inquiry to include other aspects of Utah women business ownership, such as the barriers women experienced in operating and growing a business, the advantages of women-owned businesses in Utah, the support participants received as women business owners, and the impact of childcare on the capacity of women to successfully operate a business. This report will first highlight key elements of both the national and Utah contexts and then continue with sections on research methods, findings, summary, and recommendations.

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