Businesses owned and operated by women are on the rise throughout
the United States. In the past five years alone, women-owned
companies have increased 20 percent, according to a recent report
issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Although these numbers are impressive, the strength of women-owned
businesses in Florida outperformed the national trends. For the same
reporting period, Florida’s women-owned enterprises grew 30 percent,
making Florida a hotbed of emerging female-driven entrepreneurship.
Since its conception in 2001, the county’s Department of Economic
Development has been tracking the emergence and impact that
women-owned businesses have on the Volusia County economy.
“Volusia County has a growing pool of women-owned enterprises
that accounts for more than 2,500 area businesses with annual gross
sales in excess of $1.14 billion,” said Doug Vimmerstedt, Special
Projects Coordinator for the department.
While real estate, healthcare and general services dominate the
types of area companies that are owned and operated by women, the
level of female company ownership within Volusia County’s
manufacturing sector is outpacing national and state trends. The
influence of women entrepreneurs and ownership in local
manufacturing is present in 145 of the 430 reporting manufacturing
operations throughout the county.
“This accounts for an estimated 30 percent or more of our
manufacturing community as compared to 19 percent nationally”, said
Vimmerstedt.
According to Rick Michael, the county’s economic development
director: “An increasing number of women are moving into more
nontraditional business ownership. We no longer are just seeing
small retail, service-related companies and medical practices being
owned by women. For some time, we have been seeing an increasing
presence of professional women opening and managing medium and large
size companies in various segments of Volusia County’s economy.”
As an example, Candy Berg-Borror is the principal owner of
Florida Gourmet Foods, a business that set up in DeLand within the
past five years. A small manufacturer of specialty food products
with a workforce of about 20, Florida Gourmet Foods not only is
producing product for sale within the United States but also has
been reaching out for foreign markets for the past few years.
Ormond Beach entrepreneur and business leader Maryam Ghyabi has
built and expanded one of the most successful women-owned
professional engineering and transportation planning firms in the
state. Ghyabi & Associates employs more than 75 high-skilled,
high-waged professional engineers with offices in DeLand, Ormond
Beach and Jacksonville.
Women-owned businesses account for more than 7,400 employees with
an annual payroll impact to the Volusia County economy of $136.7
million, according to the latest report issued by the U.S. Census
Bureau.
The Department of Economic Development, the Volusia/Flagler
Regional Workforce Board and Daytona Beach Community College are
sponsoring an annual business symposium for women-owned
entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Last year’s event drew more than 150 area business women for a
daylong program that included discussions concerning changing
banking needs, legal and accounting challenges for growing
businesses and keynote addresses by noted leaders including Tony
Jennings, Florida’s Lieutenant Governor.
“We are looking forward to another informative symposium that
will help women entrepreneurs navigate the challenges of growing
their businesses while providing a unique opportunity to network
with some of the most interesting and dynamic women business leaders
in our area,” said Ghyabi, the chairwoman for the 2006 Women in
Business Symposium.
The 2006 Women in Business Symposium will be held on the Daytona
Beach campus of Daytona Beach Community College. The event is
Friday, August 18. If you are interested in receiving
more information on this year’s symposium click
here or contact Cynthia Gradolf with the Department of Economic Development by email at
gradolc@dbcc.edu.
