Most states fare far better in new study.
Iowa had one of the lowest growth rates of women-owned businesses between 1997 and 2014, according to a new study.
The 2015 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, commissioned by American Express Open, says the state saw a 27 percent increase of businesses owned by women during those years, compared to the national average of 74 percent. Iowa’s growth rate was higher than only two other states: Alaska (14 percent) and West Virginia (26 percent), according to the study. Georgia led the country, with a 132 percent growth rate.
And Iowa ranked dead last in the study’s ranking of the economic clout of women-owned businesses, which factors in the growth in their number, revenues and employment. North Dakota ranked first in that measure.
However, Iowa was one of the few states where the increase of women-owned firms from 2007-2015 was more than twice the increase from 2002-2007.
Across the country, the study found women-owned firms now make up 30 percent of all businesses.
