The New Women's Movement

Women now hold majority ownership in 54 percent of the state’s privately held companies, an increase of 15 percent since 1997. This growth accounts for a 38 percent increase in state employment.

And sales and employment growth of Missouri firms with women owners outpaced the national averages of women-owned firms, with companies that are majority-owned by women accounting for 47 percent of all privately-held firms nationwide.

This Center for Women’s Business Research data acts as a backdrop to a new kind of women’s movement – in the field of networking. Active networking women are finding strength in numbers, and a national group specifically for women is targeting Missouri, starting with Springfield.

“It makes sense that women should be out there determining the products and services we buy by starting and running companies with a feminine approach,” said Ruth Shryack, local leader of Ladies Who Launch, a women-only group set to launch locally this month. “I think women’s groups such as Ladies Who Launch can nurture, educate and encourage these women to confirm that it is not only OK but market-driven to put a woman’s touch on these products.”

The first activity for Shryack’s group is a free panel discussion 6 p.m. April 6 at Twin Oaks Country Club.

“Our big push is to help women move forward in whatever they want to do,” said Shryack, who will retain her day job as chief financial officer of Jordan Valley Community Health Center while conducting Ladies Who Launch activities on the side.

Ladies Who Launch is designed to teach women about various aspects of running a business or a project. Shryack said the participants help guide the focus of the sessions based on their own interests, but sessions might include networking, marketing, promotions, motivation or distribution.

“We provide the inspiration and the resources for women to move their projects forward. When you get a group of women together the energy behind those women is contagious,” said Victoria Colligan, who co-founded Ladies Who Launch in 2000. “When you’re around these women, you feel like you can do it, too, and that’s half the battle.”

Existing networks

There’s already an existing supply of business and industry networking groups specifically for women in the Ozarks. Eight of the 33 networking groups listed in Springfield Business Journal’s 2006 Book of Lists are designed for women.

Mary Worm, loan officer with North American Savings Bank, wanted a networking group for women that “truly provided more support and focus.” Last fall, she formed SWISS – Springfield’s Women in Support of Success.

“So many women have the career and have a sales schedule they have to meet and they have a family, too. It’s hard to juggle all that,” Worm said. “I thought it would be a good way to vent or have someone to lean on when you need support.”

The Nixa Area Chamber of Commerce sponsors Working Women in Nixa, a group of about 75 women who meet monthly to promote their businesses.

“A lot of times, you don’t have a lot of women come all together where it’s just women,” said President and CEO Sharon Whitehill Gray.

The Springfield chapter of the Association of Women in Communication also meets monthly, led by Karen Parry, national sales manager at KY3 and owner of small business Furniture Gourmet.

“In AWC, you will find a broad sweep from the communications fields, from public relations, marketing, sales, and many women who own their own communications businesses, as well as writers and professional speakers,” Parry said.

Launch party

Ladies Who Launch participants will pay $250 to attend Shryack’s sessions.

“Everybody starts by going through the four-week intensive incubator. It’s kind of a boot camp into Ladies Who Launch and exposing them to the philosophy and how we take a project because what we want people to do is bring a project to that intensive four-week session. We take that project and work to expand their vision and then kind of contract it back down to a next-step process,” Shryack said.

Sessions last for four weeks, meeting one night a week for two hours. The first sessions meetings are April 13, 20, 27 and May 4 at The Creamery in Jordan Valley Park, but Shryack hopes to hold meetings at various locations in the area. Shryack’s goal is to hold eight incubators this year.

Incubator participants will exchange information about their projects with others in the group.

“You kind of take your eye off of yours,” Shryack said. “As a member, you have nine other people working on some aspects of your project.”

Upon completing the incubator sessions, participants may choose to join the ongoing group and attend eight meetings per year for $300 annually.

Nationwide there are Ladies Who Launch groups in 23 cities, with each leader paying Colligan and her business partner a $6,000 licensing fee for the rights to run incubators in specific cities. Leaders attend three days of training in Cleveland to learn how to conduct the sessions.

Colligan estimates 1,000 members nationwide have participated in the incubators. Ladies Who Launch membership is now at 15,000, including those who are members of a free online network.

Debut discussion

Panelists at the April 6 debut will share their experiences in changing careers.

“All three of them have dynamic personalities,” Shryack said of the panelists. “What I liked is all three of them are at new chapters of their lives, which I’ve found is so common for women.

One woman at such a crossroads is Janell Manley, who was a residential builder in the area for about 15 years, operating as Janell Manley Homes Inc. She retired from building in June 2004.

“I’ve just been taking some time off and trying to decide what I want to do next,” said Manley, one of SBJ’s Most Influential Women in 2001. “I thought it would be a great opportunity to meet others and brainstorm.”

Joining Manley on the panel are Julie Higgins, founder of Julie’s Chewies, currently running Higgins Marketing, and one of SBJ’s Most Influential Women of 2005; and Suze Dunville Powell, who recently sold Nearly Famous Deli & Pasta House after 30 years.

Missouri Business Ownership, 2004

Growth by Majority Women-owned firms, 1997-2004

Source: Center for Women's Business Research