AUTUMN 2004

Women Entrepreneurs
Growing in Numbers

Bank's Branches Rev Up
Community Affairs Work

Campaign Warns:
Don't Borrow Trouble

Indiana Homeowner Protection
Act Exempts Bankers

Illinois Lenders Invited
to Investment Meetings

Get Checking

Have You Heard

Spanning the Region

Calendar

Resources

A Closer Look
This issue of Bridges includes a supplement for readers in Arkansas. A Closer Look focuses on what is being done in Arkansas to stem the increasing number of defaults on manufactured housing loans.

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Women Entrepreneurs
Growing in Numbers

By Jean Morisseau-Kuni
Community Affairs Analyst

Susan Jones, owner of Little Shop of Pastries in Vienna, Ill., still uses her grandmother’s cake pans to bake wedding cakes.

Small business has seen big growth in the past 10 years, and small businesses owned by women have flourished, with a growth rate of 37 percent—four times the growth rate of all firms. The Small Business Association (SBA) estimates that minority women own 1.2 million businesses, which makes them the fastest growing segment of women-owned businesses.

Making the decision to start and grow a business is not an easy one. Fledgling business owners learn quickly that getting the right financing, developmental help and support can make the difference between a successful venture and failure. In the Federal Reserve’s Eighth District, three women who made the leap and became business owners share their stories of becoming women entrepreneurs.


Fulfilling a Sweet Destiny
Susan Jones—Little Shop of Pastries

Susan Jones had sentimental reasons for starting her business. “When I was 17, my grandmother retired from her wedding cake business and gave me her cake pans,” she said. “I knew at that moment I wanted to do something special with those pans.” The concept of Jones’ business, Little Shop of Pastries in Vienna, Ill., grew from that desire.
Jones started her business in a small shop near the Vienna town square...FULL STORY