The U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship held a hearing this week to explore ways to better support women entrepreneurs and women small business owners.
“As many of you know, October is National Women’s Small Business month which serves as a great reminder that female entrepreneurs own more than 11 million businesses in our country and employ more than 9 million workers,” U.S. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), who chairs the committee, said. “They contribute over $1.6 trillion in sales to our national economy and are capable of even more as its fastest-growing sector.”
A key resource for entrepreneurs and small business owners, particularly women, is time, Risch said. It should not be spent dealing with overly burdensome regulations, he added.
“Women entrepreneurs, as many of you can attest to, oftentimes are working to juggle even more priorities than their male counterparts, and they are negatively impacted by the expense of time and resources that it takes to comply with our complicated and burdensome tax code. It is for this reason that tax reform can and should be part of today’s discussion,” Risch said.
Among those who testified at the hearing were Elizabeth Gore, entrepreneur-in-residence at Dell; Tracy Chadwell, founding partner at 1843 Capital; and Michelle Richards, executive director of Great Lakes Women’s Business Council.
The witnesses discussed the challenges facing women entrepreneurs and provided insight into some opportunities that could make it easier for women to launch and grow businesses.