**Addendum**
I was recently surprised to learn that Atlas Tool is also a Women owned company. Back in 1962 Mrs. Schmidt founded the company with her husband. Atlas has long been recognized as a builder of high quality dies. Beyond that, they have a solid reputation of conducting business due to their financial due diligence and professional and knowledgeable employees. Another refreshing aspect of dealing with Atlas is that they pay their bills on time….sometimes even early.
The average tenure of employees at Atlas is almost 16 years. That number is even more staggering when you consider the influx of employees hired during the U.S die build boom of the 1990′s.
Please check back soon for a post detailing an interview with Atlas Tool President, Mark R. Schmidt.
Let me preface this by saying I am not a women nor do I work for any of the companies spotlighted below.
I’m guessing by the demographics of those that work in the tooling industry
there is probably a 80-90% chance you a male if your reading this.
Considering that over 50% of our population is female there must be a
reason for that disparity. I hope to see the current trend of Women
owned businesses continue to rise. The bullets below are from Karen
Stinson’s article “28 Facts about Women Entrepreneurs in the United
States”, from the company publication of ProGroup.
A lot of these statistics below are enough to cause concern. I don’t care if your the biggest sexist pig in America, you need these Women entrepreneurs more than they need you. If your interested in learning more about this or know of somebody who could use some guidance about establishing a Women owned business send them to WBENC (Women’s Business Enterprise National Council)
Clout in the Marketplace
Women entrepreneurs are the fastest growing economic trend in the United States.
Women-owned businesses are growing at twice the rate of all U.S. firms.
In 2006, over 10.6 million businesses were at least 50% owned by women, which means that women own 30% of all businesses.
Of women-owned companies, 23% have employees.
Women-owned firms employ over 19 million people nationwide.
Women-owned businesses generated over $2 trillion in sales in 2006.
Women-owned businesses spent more than $38 billion on health benefits in 2004.
The
top four industries which women entrepreneurs are diversifying are
construction, transportation, communications, and public utilities.
Estimated spending on salaries and benefits by women-owned businesses total an estimated $546 billion a year.
Demographics
Women
business owners are 86.0% White, 8.43% African American, 8.33%
Hispanic, 5.25% Asian, 1.23% American Indian, and l.8% Native Hawaiian
or Pacific Islander. (This adds up to more than 100% due to women who
declared mixed race.)
Of all women entrepreneurs, 75% are married, 12% are divorced or separated, 9% are single, and 4% are widowed.
Among
women business owners, 1.3% have doctorates, 5.91% have masters
degrees, 20% have bachelor’s degrees, 5.37% have associate degrees and
31.69% have high school diplomas.
Of Fortune 1000 companies,
60% spend $1 billion or more a year with outside suppliers. Women-owned
businesses capture only 4% of that revenue.
Female business
owners are more philanthropically active than male business owners.
Seventy percent volunteer at least once per month and rank “giving back
to their communities” as one of their top priorities.
Financing Challenges
Regardless of race or ethnic background, the vast majority of women entrepreneurs have growth as a primary goal.
Women receive as little as 5% of venture capital.
At venture capital firms in the year 2000, women held 9% of decision-making positions, down from 10% five years earlier.
Women
entrepreneurs are rarely in the same networks as venture capitalists.
Venture capitalists seldom consider deals that come from unknown
parties.
Women leave venture capital firms at twice the rate of men.
Women-owned
companies are just as strong financially and as worthy of credit as the
average U.S. firm. Compared to statistics for all firms, they have
similar performance on bill payment, similar levels of credit risk, and
equal failure rates.
Women-owned firms receive less than 10% of institutional investment deals and only 2% of investment dollars.
Women obtain 73% of growth capital from individual investors rather than venture capital funds.
Misconceptions
The top three misconceptions about women business owners are:
a. Women don’t want to grow their businesses. They are content to work part time out of their homes.
b. Women don’t have enough business experience and savvy to successfully run businesses.
c. Women won’t take the personal and financial risks necessary to start and grow a business.
The tool, die & mold industry has historically been composed of a male dominated workforce. America
is a country that was supposedly founded upon, and flourished under,
diversity. Somewhere along the way we got mixed up and the balance of
power went to the WASP’s.
(That’s not a political rant by any means rather I’m just stating
facts) It’s encouraging to several Women Owned Tooling Companies that
have established themselves and also gained excellent reputations by
their customers and employees. Two such companies are:
1) Dynamic Design & Manufacturing Their located in Boulder, CO and were recently named one of the fastest growing Women owned companies in the country. They are a precision metal fabricator with stamping, rolling, laser cutting, CNC Punching, Welding, Wire EDM and forming capabilities.
2) Jolico An independent Women owned business in Utica, MI. Since this blog is new I assume most of the readers are probably already familiar with Jolico. They are a supplier and provider of die components. They have been in business long enough that has been substantiated by a quality product. Another intriguing aspect about Jolico is the commitment of its employees. The average tenure of each employee is around 10 years. Find me another company in this industry that has such a low turnover in employment.
Another good source of guidance and information for Women owned businesses is the bi-partisan federal advisory council, National Women’s Business Council
P.S, I don’t want to hear that I should lose my man card for posting this……..
Scraps
Read more »
