A quarter of all Utah businesses are now owned by women, but that is one of the lowest rates among the states, according to new census estimates taken once every five years that were released Tuesday.
In fact, among the 50 most-populous counties in the nation, Salt Lake County ranked dead last for its percentage of women-owned businesses in 2007 at 25.6 percent — even though that was a bit above the statewide average of 24.9 percent.
“I think the driving force behind that is our state traditionally has a lot of stay-at-home moms” because of LDS Church beliefs that stress the importance of family, said Pam Okumura, program director for the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce Women’s Business Center.
Also, “Utah has a relatively low educational attainment on the part of women,” and is one of the few states where most college degrees go to men instead of women, said Scott Schaefer, associate dean at the University of Utah’s Eccles School of Business. Salt Lake Tribune
For more information on the survey see: http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/business_ownership/cb10-184.html and http://www.census.gov/econ/sbo/
