A Comparison of the Impact on Women's Business Centers on Female Entrepreneurship in 14 Metropolitan Statistical Area

The problem investigated in this study was the fewer number of female-owned businesses in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) without a Woman's Business Center (WBC) to assist potential female entrepreneurs in starting businesses and creating jobs in their local communities. 2015 and 2016 data on MSAs from the United States Office of Management and Budget (2015) and the Small Business Administration (2016) identified six states (Virginia, Texas, Tennessee, California, Ohio, and Florida) and seven pairs of MSAs, in these states, located within less than 225 miles of each other, where MSA had a WBC and the other didn't. U.S. Census Bureau data from the 2014 Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs, Company Statistics for the 14 MSAs was used to calculate the average percentage of female-owned businesses, average percentage of employees of female-owned businesses, and the average hourly wage of female-owned small businesses for these pairs. The annual survey also compared the unemployment rates. Bureau of Labor Statistics data was used to determine each MSA's mean hourly wage, which formed the basis of the comparison for this variable. Study results indicated 85% of MSAs with a WBC had higher rates of female-owned small businesses than their pair; 85% of the female-owned businesses in a MSA with a WBC had more employees than their pair; 15% of the businesses owned by females in a MSA with a WBC paid a mean hourly wage equal to or greater than the local mean hourly wage; and 15% of the businesses owned by females in a MSA with a WBC versus their pair had an unemployment rate lower than their pair. Research implications indicated the presence of a WBC stimulated female small business ownership and employment growth, but not wage growth or reduction in unemployment rates. There were five future WBC research recommendations including: determining which WBC model is the most effective at inspiring women to start a business; if developing a customizable national WBC curriculum would be more economically effective; determining which WBC training elements have a greater positive impact, identifying which types of female-owned businesses are started by WBC graduates; and last, if culturally-nuanced training would be valuable.