Florida No. 1 for growth of women-owned firms

Entrepreneurial women have made Florida a frontrunner for business creation.

According to a recent analysis by American Express, Florida ranks first in the nation in the growth of the number of women-owned firms, with a 67.1% increase from 2007 to 2016.
Nationally, the number of women-owned firms grew 45.1% in that same time period.

Population growth and a pro-business climate for entrepreneurs may be some of the reasons why Florida is the top state for women to start a business, says Julie Weeks, research adviser and author of the American Express study on women-owned businesses.

Florida is also a favorable state for Hispanic women to start a business, with a No. 3 ranking nationally in that demographic. “The diversity of the population is feeding it, too,” Weeks says.

The growth in women-owned firms stands out. “Business formation overall has been very flat since the recession,” Weeks says. “Usually there's a bounce back up, and that hasn't happened.”