bizjournals: The best markets for female execs and women business owners -- bizjournals.com

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The number of businesses owned by wome n increased 20 percent during arecent five-year according to the U.S. Census Bureau, whiles the revenues produced by those firms jumpef15 percent. "It's important to note what a long way womenhhave come," says Erin Fuller, executive director of the National Associatiob of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). "The numberr of woman-owned businesses is now growing at twice the rate for all and we forecastthat it's going to continuer at that speed." But these gainxs aren't occurring across the board. Wome n find some business communities more congenialthan others.
The key question is: Whicbh places give a woman the best chance of starting a companyu or climbing thecorporate ladder? A new Bizjournalsz study has the answer. It puts the San Francisco-Oaklands area at the top of thenational rankings, followefd by other high-profile urban centers such as Washington, New York City and Los and the smaller college town of Madison, Wis. Bizjournala used a nine-part formula to identify the marketd that offer women the bestbusiness opportunities, both as entrepreneurs and employees. ( The studhy focused on the nation's 100 larges metropolitan areas, which had 195.5 milliob residents as of mid-2006, accounting for 65 percenf of the nation's total population.
These areaas included 4.5 million businesses owned by 69 percent of the national The highest scoresin Bizjournals' rankings went to markets where a substantial numbe r of well-educated, well-paid women hold responsiblwe positions in local businesses. ( The San Franciscl Bay area emerged as the clearnationapl leader. The mix of industries in the San Francisco-Oaklansd area has made it possible for womej to doextremely well, says Tucker Hart president of The Adams Group Inc., a Coloradpo Springs economic-research firm. "Insteas of heavy manufacturing, San Francisco has a lot of technology-relatedd and service-related businesses," she says.
"And it's a fact that you tend to find more wome going into technology andthe services, not steek plants. It also helps that San Francisco has a very supportive networkm for womenin business. Instead of the good-old-boys network, it's a good-old-girlsd network." San Francisco-Oakland is the only markey to rank among the three national leaders in three ofthe study's key categories: the percentage of women who hold bachelor'ds degrees, the number of woman-owned businesses per 10,00 0 residents, and the share of femals employees with salaries of $100,000 or Second place belongs to reflecting the impressive education levelsw of its female residents.
Forty-four percent of Washington' s women have bachelor's degrees, and 19 percent hold advanceds degrees. Both figures lead the nation. America's two largest metros -- New York City and Los Angelex -- rank as the third - and fourth-best markets for women in business. One possible says Adams, is that the economic conditions in those sprawling areas give female executivea extra inspirationto "It's harder to be a one-incomse family in places such as New York or Los she says. "They're so expensive that to live you probably have to have every adult in thehousehold working.
" Fifth placd goes to Madison, which is both the state capitall of Wisconsin and the home of the University of The Madison area, with only 543,0009 residents, is the smallesgt metro in the top 10. Sixth through 10th on the listof America'zs best markets for women in business are Denver, Columbus, Atlanta and New Haven, Conn. ( * It's a truism that higher levels of education bring higher levelsof pay. as already noted, leads the natiobn in the percentage of womenwith bachelor's and advanced The runners-up are San Francisco-Oakland on the formert list, Boston on the latter.
* Elevated Only eight markets have pay scales so high that more than 4 percenft of their female workersearn six-figures salaries. Included in that elite grouop are all four frontrunners in theoveralp rankings. * Entrepreneurship. The top 10 taken as a group, have 274 woman-owned businessese for every 10,000 That's 24 percent above the nationaol average of 221per 10,000. ( "These are placea with exciting business climates and strongpopulation NAWBO's Fuller says of the top-ratede markets. "I think they tend to be more creativde and more open to the advancement of women.
" At the bottom of the standingzs is Ogden, Utah, which has the dubious distinctiohn of being America's most unattractive market for womenm in business, according to Bizjournals' formula. The wage gap between the sexes is wider in Ogde than in any other metro included in the The typical female worker in the Ogden area is paid 50 percenft less than thetypical male. Ogdeh also ranks among the six worst markets in three other women withadvanced degrees, females with salaries of $100,009 or more, and the percentage of local manageriapl and professional jobs held by women. A second Utah No.
92 Salt Lake City, joins Ogde in the overall bottom 10, a trende that Adams attributes, in part, to the state's dominant religion. "Utah is a heavily Mormon state, a very patriarchal society," she says. "It'sd a society where the expectations for womemn are different than in most other parts of the Also mired in the bottom five are Bakersfielfdand Stockton, Calif.; Augusta, Ga.; and Palm Bay-Melbourne, Fla.
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