BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU
®
Continued from page 15
The National Women’s Business
Council’s 2012 report shows 89.5
percent of all women owned
businesses in the U.S. have no
employees other than the owner.
So how do these women-owned
and operated businesses rank
in Oregon? The 2015 WomenOwned Businesses Report
revealed Oregon ranks 26th in
terms of the fastest growth of
the number of women-owned
firms at a rate of 57.2 percent,
a stark contrast to the national
rate of 74 percent.
Forecasting Oregon
Business
TORCH TALK MARCH 2016
The Oregon Office of Economic
Analysis (OEA) forecasts
continued success through
the next decade in Food and
Beverage Manufacturing,
Published Software and Crop
Production, industries in
which the state performs well,
compared with much of the rest
-16-
of the nation. Four years ago
Carrie Welch, along with Mike
Thelin, recognized the potential
of Oregon’s Food and Beverage
Manufacturing industry and
founded Feast Portland. Not
unlike so many women-owned
start-ups, there was a desire
amongst locals to keep the
festival small, celebrating only
those in the industry that
resided here, but by expanding
its audience, partnerships
beyond the local community,
were established.
Collectively, women-owned
businesses have even greater
potential to drive Oregon’s
economy when similar principles
of inclusion and expansion
are applied. The fact that
more women are starting their
own business is encouraging.
However, the issue remai