STATISTICS ON WOMEN'S BUSINESS OWNERSHIP
                                                           5/95

*   Women-owned businesses are one of the fastest growing
    segments of our economy.

*   Women business-owners are starting businesses at twice the
    rate of their male counterparts; constituting one third of
    all businesses and 15 percent of all receipts.

*   By the year 2000, it is anticipated that women will own
    nearly half of all U.S. companies.

*   Women-owned firms are found in every industrial sector, from
    services to manufacturing.

*   From 1990 - 1992 according to the National Foundation of
    Women Business Owners survey:

    *   57 percent increased sales
    *   54 percent improved the quality of business processes
    *   46 percent developed a new product or service
    *   33 percent expanded into new markets in the U.S. or
        abroad
    *   32 percent increased capital expenditures
    *   25 percent increased employment

*   According to National Foundation for Women Business Owners
    and Dun & Bradstreet Information Services (April 1995),
    estimates there are 7.7 million women owned business in the
    U.S. employing 15.5 million people and generating nearly $1.4
    trillion in sales.

JOB CREATION:

*   This growing segment of the economy has provided 15.5 million
    jobs, employing 35 percent more people in the U.S. than
    Fortune 500 companies worldwide.

*   38 percent of all small businesses are owned by women, with
    approximately 7.7 million women-owned business in this
    country.

*   Women-owned businesses have staying power: more than 40
    percent have been in business for 12 years or more.

*   70 percent of women business owners are financing their
    business with their credit cards and personal resources. 
    Women business owners are 3 times as likely as other
    businesses to use credit cards for short-term financing.

*   Employment growth in women owned firms exceeds the national
    average by a substantial margin.  1991 - 1994 employment grew
    by 11.5 percent among commercially active women-owned firms
    in the U.S. compared to 5.4 percent among all firms. 
    According to National Foundation for Women Business Owners
    and Dun & Bradstreet Information Services (April 1995),
    employment growth in women-owned firms exceeds the national
    average in nearly every region in the country and in nearly
    every major industry.

BIG MARKET:
 
*   46 percent of women between the ages of 35 - 55 want to
    become business owners.

*   64 percent of women between ages 18 - 34 want to become
    business owners.

Update:  5/95