Growth in R.I. women owned firms lags U.S.

HIRE GROUND: Christine M. Cunneen, Hire Image co-owner, says her company is in growth mode, looking for other background-screening companies to purchase. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS
HIRE GROUND: Christine M. Cunneen, Hire Image co-owner, says her company is in growth mode, looking for other background-screening companies to purchase. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS

Professional and financial support for women entrepreneurs appears to be increasing in Rhode Island, ranging from established organizations such as The Women’s Fund of Rhode Island and the Center for Women & Enterprise to newer groups like the PVD Lady Project, whose co-founder, Sierra Barter, explained the group’s mission as to “connect, inspire and showcase awesome women doing amazing things in Providence.”
But while promotion of entrepreneurial women in Rhode Island may be gaining visibility, they haven’t reached enough of a critical mass to keep up with women in the rest of the U.S., as far as women-owned companies.
Women entrepreneurs in the Ocean State are far behind the rest of the country in terms of their companies creating employment opportunities and bringing in revenue, according to a report by American Express Open, “The 2013 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report,” published in March.
On the positive side, the number of women-owned firms in Rhode Island increased by 42 percent over the last 16 years, according to the report. But that’s behind the national increase of 59 percent of women-owned firms.
The glaring issue in Rhode Island is that employment in women-owned firms has dropped by 8,000, or 28 percent, since 1997, according to the report.
“In terms of shrinking employment, down 28 percent is fairly startling, certainly,” the author of the report, Julie Weeks, a research adviser on women’s business issues based in Michigan, told Providence Business News.
“What we’re seeing is that in Rhode Island, existing firms aren’t growing as fast as existing women-owned firms in other parts of the country,” said Weeks, who is on the board of the national Association of Women’s Business Centers.
Rhode Island ranked 48th in the nation in terms of combined economic clout of women-owned businesses. That ranking is based on growth in three categories – number of firms, revenue and employment.
The Ocean State has 39,100 women-owned businesses, according to Marcia Coné, CEO of the Women’s Fund, which invests in women through research, advocacy and grants.
“We are actually growing in terms of women-owned businesses, but we are at the bottom in terms of revenue and job creation. I’m not happy about it, but it’s not a surprise,” said Cone. “It’s an issue and I see this news as an opportunity to do something about it. If we could actually get women-owned businesses in the growth state, that would have a critical impact on the economy here,” Cone said.
Changes in strategy and more access to funding could help women expand their businesses, she said.
“In 2011, women received 18 percent of business loans from the Small Business Administration in Rhode Island,” said Cone. “Access to capital is often a huge issue and a major barrier to sustainability and growth.”
There’s no data immediately available on what percentage of applicants for SBA loans were women, she said.
“Research shows the barriers are rooted in gender bias, that sometimes those reviewing the applications may think women may not have the necessary financial acumen or collateral,” she said. “Women could improve upon strengthening their business plans. We also have to work on policies and practices and look at institutional barriers and address them.”
Whatever the national report may have found about the sluggishness of women-owned businesses in Rhode Island, a substantial number of women entrepreneurs in the state are forging ahead.
“I’m in overdrive,” said Christine Cunneen, who owns 51 percent of Johnston-based Hire Image, a firm that does background checks, drug screening and verification of education and employment for companies across the U.S. The company has a division called Tenant Patrol that works with property managers and landlords to research eviction data and landlord references.
Hire Image has an office in Pompano Beach, Fla., and does a substantial amount of work for employers in the Sunshine State.
“It’s a growing business. More and more employers are seeing the value of doing background checks and outsourcing them,” Cunneen said.” There are a lot of laws we have to follow. We’re regulated by the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We help employers stay in compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines as they relate to background screening.”
With her experience as a CPA, Cunneen hit the ground running once she found a business she wanted to sink her teeth into.
“I moved here 10 years ago because I knew I wanted to open my own business,” Cunneen said. “I took an entrepreneurship class and wrote a business plan for someone in the group. Then we joined forces and within the first quarter we landed a very large contract.” Hire Image is a company in growth mode, in terms of revenue.
“I purchased another background-screening company in Rhode Island to help expand our business and I’m looking to purchase another company out-of-state,” Cunneen said.
The key to her company’s growth is to look beyond state borders, she said.
“Most of Hire Image’s business is actually out-of-state. I wouldn’t be in business if I just relied on Rhode Island business. That’s why I travel to conferences and [try] to make new connections,” Cunneen said. “Our revenues have increased every year over the past five years.”
And while Hire Image’s increasing revenue defies the Rhode Island details in the American Express report, the company provides some insight into the reason hiring is down in many businesses, including women-owned firms.
“I received a grant for lean office training from Bryant Executive Development Center. And although our revenues have increased, we haven’t hired new staff,” Cunneen said. “We’re doing more with less.”
Hire Image employs five people and plans to add one more as the company expands its national client roster, which includes large construction companies and universities.
There’s an in-state issue she’s noticed that provides some perspective on why women-owned businesses, or any small businesses in the state, may not be expanding as quickly as in other states.
“I have one big frustration with doing business in Rhode Island,” Cunneen said. “There are a lot of employers in the state that could keep small businesses like mine pretty busy if they gave preference to Rhode Island businesses. We work with a whole range of businesses, from a doctor’s office that may hire one or two people to call centers and staffing agencies that hire thousands of people a year.
“It’s the culture. They think, ‘Oh, you’re a Rhode Island business, you’re small. You can’t handle it,’ ” she said.
Cunneen keeps up with one business-strengthening strategy pointed out by the author of the American Express report – connecting with supportive organizations.
“One issue women business owners face is that men, for years, have had connections. The more people you know, the more business you receive. Women are newer to owning our own businesses,” said Cunneen, who is a member of the Women Presidents Organization, a group she said generally tends to attract women whose companies earn a million dollars or more in revenue. “I moderated a panel on mentors and sponsors,” she said. “I think that’s a big thing for women in business, to have sponsors and mentors that could help them take it to the next level.”
Greenlion Design owner Kim Lamothe started her company to get to the next level in her personal and business finances. She worked seasonally at greenhouses to further her natural interest in plants and flowers and filled-in with waitressing. Her success in horticulture, up until seven years ago, was planting a garden at Evelyn’s clam shack in Tiverton, where she was a waitress.
Then Lamothe decided to take Power Up!, a 13-week business-planning course at the Center for Women and Enterprise.
“I had no idea where to start. I didn’t know what tax IDs were or about liability insurance. I just started out thinking I wanted to design container gardens for people,” Lamothe said.
The course taught her to write a business plan and CWE arranged for her to meet with a loan officer, who approved a $1,200 loan.
“I needed a truck. I was gardening out of my Honda,” said Lamothe. “At the time, a $1,200 loan was amazing. I bought a used truck. Then I met a graphic designer who helped me choose my company name and develop a logo. We traded services. I traded a garden for her graphic-design work.”
In 2011, Lamothe won CWE’s Rising Star award.
A year ago, Lamothe added a partner in her Tiverton-based Greenlion Design, which does garden design, installation and maintenance.
Greenlion Design expanded organically after Lamothe did flowers for a friend’s wedding. Referrals brought in steady business. Now weddings, mostly in Newport and Cape Cod, are about one quarter of her business and Greenlion Design has an office on Bellevue Avenue in Newport.
Lamothe plans to expand, in a measured, manageable way, and she goes back to CWE for classes like accounting and for the supportive community.
Now her relationship with CWE goes both ways.
“We did centerpieces for the CWE gala,” Lamothe said. “The flowers were in a red, stiletto heel.” •

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