Document 30: "Plank 3: Business," from National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year, The Spirit of Houston: The First National Women's Conference (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1978), pp. 22-23.



p. 22



PLANK 3
BUSINESS

The President should issue an Executive order establishing as national policy:

   The President should amend Executive Order 11625 of October 13, 1971 to add women to list coverage and to programs administered by the Office of Minority Business Enterprise.

   The President should direct the Small Business Administration (SBA) to add women to the definition of socially or economically disadvantaged groups as published in the Code of Federal Regulations and take all steps necessary to include women in all the services and activities of the SBA. These steps should include community education projects to encourage women to participate in SBA programs, particularly minority women, including blacks, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans.

   The President should direct all contracting agencies to increase the percentage of the annual dollar amount of procurement contracts awarded to women-owned businesses and to maintain records by sex and race or ethnicity for monitoring and evaluation.

   The President should direct the General Services Administration to amend, so as to include women, the Federal Procurement Regulations requiring that all firms holding Government contracts exceeding $5.000 insure that "minority business enterprises have the maximum practicable opportunity to participate in the performance of Government contracts."

   The President should direct the Department of Labor. Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, to assure that compliance officers monitor the awards of subcontracts in order to assure that women-owned businesses are equitably treated.

Background:

"Women-owned businesses and minority-owned businesses together
received less than 1 percent of the more than
$130 billion in contracts awarded by the Federal Government."

   Businesswomen are very poorly represented in the American economy. In 1972, the only year for which figures were available, women owned 4.6 percent of all American businesses, accounting for only 0.3 percent of all business receipts.

   Very little has been done to increase these numbers. National programs for assistance to business owners do not make any special provision for women entrepreneurs, and many women do not qualify for help under minority programs. Nor do women get their share of Federal contracts. In 1975, women-owned businesses and minority-owned businesses together received less than one percent of the more than $130 billion in contracts awarded by the Federal Government.

   Most businesses owned by women are smaller and less profitable than those owned by men—retail stores, coffee shops, personal services. Of the 402,025 women-owned businesses surveyed in the 1972 study, 98 percent were owned by one woman; 13 percent had no paid employees; and only 27 percent had more than five employees. The average annual income of women-owned businesses without employees was $10,000.

Small Business Administration   A major source of financial and technical assistance to small businesses is the Small Business Administration. The agency does not have a separate program for women, and as a result, they receive only a share of its attention and assistance. In 1976, the SBA gave 11 percent of its business loans (and only eight percent of its total loan dollars) to under 3,000 women-owned businesses. This amounted to .75 percent of all women-owned businesses. More than three-quarters of the aid went to the retail and service firms that have been traditional business outlets for women.

   Women as a group are not presumed disadvantaged in business and not defined as eligible for participation in the section 8(a) program of the SBA that arranges subcontracts for small business concerns "which are owned and controlled by socially or economically disadvantaged persons." Women who are not members of recognized minority groups have had a difficult time being accepted as "socially disadvantaged".

   Women as a group were not included as a "minority" when the Office of Minority Business Enterprise was created in 1971. As a result, they are excluded from an avenue of financial and technical aid that would allow them to participate more fully in the small business sector of the Nation's economy.



p. 23



Charting the need   In September 1977, the Department of Commerce announced the formation of an Interagency Task Force on Women Business Owners, charged by President Carter with identifying obstacles, including Federal practices, that discourage women from entering business. The Task Force, which was preparing to make its report at this writing, includes representatives of Federal departments and agencies with special interest in business and procurement issues. Anne Wexler, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Regional Affairs, chairs this Task Force, which was assigned to identify and assess the adequacy of current data; propose methods of collecting additional information; identify discriminatory practices and/or conditions; assess current Federal discriminatory programs and practices; and propose changes in Federal laws, regulations, and practices, including the impact, if any, on the Federal budget.

Legislation   A bill to establish an Associate Administrator for Women's Business Enterprise (S. 1526) was introduced by Senators Dewey Bartlett (R., Okla.) and Jacob Javits (R., N.Y.), with full support of the National Association of Women Business Owners. The head of SBA, A. Vernon Weaver, had publicly stated opposition to this bill. Rather than create a separate program for women, he favors integrating women's needs into all aspects of SBA programs. The bill passed the Senate in August 1977 and was referred to a subcommittee of the House Committee on Small Business.

Current Actions   The Agency for International Development (AID) is seeking to provide more contracts to firms owned by minorities and women. AID has also expressed a desire to include more women-owned firms as contractors and/or grantees.

   

Previous
Document		 Document
List		 Next
Document