COVER STORY

Maine and New Hampshire boast of many firsts. Maine touts York as America's first chartered city. And New Hampshire, on the eve of another crowded presidential contest, proudly touts itself for hosting the "first-in-the-nation primary." But progress and Yankee ingenuity aside, Maine and New Hampshire still lurk in the bottom third in state rankings for women in business.

Ellen Fineberg of Women's Business Center Jackie Ricciardi photo

Maine ranks 38th and New Hampshire ranks 39th in the number of privately held, majority women-owned firms in 2006, according to the Center for Women's Business Research. The states ranked 50th and 30th, respectively, when it comes to the growth of women-owned businesses.

Part of the challenge is an old barrier: Access to capital. But a reinforced network is helping more and more women learn the ins and outs of the business world and muster those critical resources.

"You don't have to do it alone," said Theresa deLangis, executive director of the New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Women, in offering advice for would-be women entrepreneurs.

Agencies supporting small-business people recommend developing as many connections and resources as possible. In addition to the Small Business Administration and the Small Business Development Center, several organizations focus on women executives and owners. They include the Women's Business Center, headquartered in Portsmouth, which offers services in southeastern New Hampshire, northeastern Massachusetts and southern Maine.

"We help to grow the New Hampshire economy one woman-owned business at a time," said Ellen Fineberg, executive director of the Women's Business Center, citing her group's motto. "The numbers are up, even for New Hampshire."

Her comment reflects economic and demographic trends in that most of the gains in women-owned firms are in southern states and urban areas, notably Texas, and Los Angeles. The numbers are up in New Hampshire because some women have inherited businesses, and Fineberg hears more family businesses being taken over by daughters -- not just sons -- as well as spouses of the original owners.

Fineberg attributes some of the success to entrepreneurship programs at business centers and state colleges and universities.

"There is a much greater acceptance of women-owned businesses," she said. "The range of businesses owned by women is as great as the range owned by men."

The list features construction companies, biotechnology firms, computer companies.

Women's business centers are getting renewed attention as Congress reviews federal appropriations. U.S. Sens. John E. Sununu, R-NH, and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, have pushed for additional funding for women's business centers. In January, Sununu filed an amendment to a bill to protect federal funding for the centers.

"Women's business centers are an incubator for women entrepreneurs nationwide, providing invaluable training and educational resources for businesswomen and those seeking to start their own businesses," Sununu said in a statement.

The Women's Business Center, based in Portsmouth, was established in 1995. It grew out of a series of seminars held in the early 1990s at what is now called Southern New Hampshire University. In 1997, the center received funding under the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Women's Business Ownership. The funding, which was renewed in 2002, is supplemented by grants and in-kind donations from the business community, corporate sponsorships, and programming fees.

DeLangis, at the New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Women, is optimistic about the region's growth in women-owned firms, based in part on the dominance of the small-business community and the educated work force. She said women need to visualize small-business ownership is for them, with one positive aspect being the flexibility ownership can bring when one balances a career and family obligations.

"There's a lot of capacity and unlocked potential there," deLangis said.

A quarter of all firms in Maine and New Hampshire are owned by women, a rate that extends to a third of all businesses when factoring in equally owned operations, according to the Center for Women's Business Research. The national estimates indicate both states are expanding ownership and sales growth.

New Hampshire ranked first among states in sales growth from 1997 to 2006, and ninth in employment growth over that time. Despite having about the same number of privately held majority owned firms, Maine's growth in sales growth and employment growth held level over that span.

Breaking the glass ceiling

Another incentive for women to own their own businesses is the proverbial glass ceiling in the office place. The median earnings of women in New Hampshire are only 72 percent compared to men, according to the Commission on the Status of Women. Nationally, women earn 76 percent as much as men. In real dollars, women lose more than $100 billion a year in wages due to pay inequity, the Institute of Women's Policy Research reports.

The region sees a number of high-profile state and business leaders who just happen to be women. The state of New Hampshire's university system is one arena. The University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University, and Keene State College are all led by women. At UNH, J. Bonnie Newman is interim president as university trustees seek a successor to President Ann Weaver Hart. The gains in the political, business and educational realms serve as a foundation for future success, according to Fineberg.

"Any time you have a woman in the role as a CEO of a company, and the company is excelling, she is being a role model for others," she said.

U.S. Women-owned businesses

Number: 9.1 million

Employ: 27.5 million

One in 18 women owns a business

Number of women-owned firms with 100 or more employees grew by 44 percent between 1997 and 2000.

Women business owners' satisfaction with banking relationships has more than doubled since 1992.

57 percent of women business owners have a line of credit for their business and 41 percent have a commercial bank loan.

Women are prepared to face risk "" 66 percent are willing to take above average or substantial risks for business investments.

Women and men business owners have different management styles. Women emphasize relationship building as well as fact gathering and are more likely to consult with experts, employees, and fellow business owners.

Sources: Women's Business Center at Womenbiz.org Center for Women's Business Research at Womensbusinessresearch.org

MAINE

Estimated 36,897 majority women-owned firms

Generates $3.5 billion in sales

Employs 25,349 people

Accounts for 24 percent of all firms

Maine ranks 50th among states in growth between 1997 and 2006 of women-owned firms, 33rd in employment, and 44th in sales growth.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Estimated 36,660 majority women-owned firms

Generates $6.4 billion in sales

Employs 39,892 people

Accounts for 26 percent of all firms

New Hampshire ranks 30th among states in growth between 1997 and 2006 of women-owned firms, 9th in employment, and 1st in sales growth.

Source: Center for Women's Business Research