Op-ed: support women entrepreneurs to help rural areas

If we want rural economies to thrive, we must support women who own small businesses, writes Barbara Kniff-McCulla in an op-ed for the Des Moines Register, in honor of National Small Business Week.

More than half of Americans own or work for a small business, so investing in them makes sense, she writes. Woman entrepreneurs especially need support since "they tend to open businesses or take over companies out of necessity, not interest," Kniff-McCulla writes. She experienced herself that when she took over her husband's company, KLK Construction, when he died in 1995.

Small businesses face many challenges, like lack of broadband internet access, and women entrepreneurs are especially likely to be isolated from support networks and have a hard time accessing funding sources for their businesses, Kniff-McCulla writes.

"Rural women entrepreneurship matters: It leads to economic development, creates jobs, and empowers women. There are more small businesses across the rural areas and cities than there are major corporations across the United States, and the number of women business owners has grown tremendously," Kniff-McCulla writes. "Small business owners have a passion for making it happen, and there isn’t much that can get in their way. Rural women’s entrepreneurship is a job creator, a means for local economic development, and a source of empowerment for women seeking stability and independence."

Barbara Kniff-McCulla sits on the National Women’s Business Council along with NWBC’s Rural Entrepreneurship subcommittee.