Women-owned businesses are becoming an increasingly important piece of the Rhode Island economy as more women finish school and start their own businesses, break away from the corporate world to open a company or leave the home to set out to accomplish a new goal.

Nobody has an accurate up-to-date count of the number of women-owned companies in Rhode Island. But there are indications of growth.

One of every two small business start-ups are owned and operated by women, according to Denise Barge, executive director of the Rhode Island Coalition for Minority Investment, a nonprofit organization founded in 1994.

There were 27,990 privately held, majority women-owned businesses in Rhode Island in 2006, up 57 percent from 1997. The businesses employed 26,195 people and had sales of 45 billion, according to the Center for Women & Enterprise, a nonprofit dedicated to helping women start and run businesses. The Center projected the numbers from U.S. Census Bureau data.

Yet another number, from the Survey of Small Business Owners by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2002, estimated the number of majority women-owned firms in Rhode Island at 23,195.

Whatever number you look at indicates that women-owned businesses, now about a third of all smaller businesses, are a critical employer.

Now, all smaller businesses are at risk because the stumbling economy has cost them customers and sales. For many new women-owned businesses, it’s the first time they’ve tried to weather a recession. The ones that survive will pay attention to the basics of running their businesses. Some will need help.

“In the midst of our state’s rocky economy, we have planned a conference and workshops to address some of the most pressing needs of running a business,” said Barge. “Owning a business in good economic times is challenging enough. Today’s business person’s success depends largely on staying ahead of the curve in business planning and sales, being innovative with marketing, and gaining control over finances and budgets.”

The Coalition for Minority Investment and the Center for Women & Enterprise are cosponsoring the 2008 Annual Emerging Women in Business Conference on June 12 from 3 to 9 p.m. at Rhode Island College. The theme “Seeds of Success” reflects the back-to-basics approach to business ownership.

There will be training sessions, guest speakers and seminars on business planning, marketing and financing. The conference is specifically targeted at low- and moderate-income women entrepreneurs. For more information, go to www.emergingwomen.biz

“When a local business succeeds, we all succeed,” said Carol Malysz, executive director of the Center for Women & Enterprise.

On a separate, but related subject, Malysz last week put out a “call to arms” to try to protect her organization’s work. She said state financing for the Center for Women & Enterprise had been cut by about $30,000 and the reduction, combined with the $57,000 cut the organization took last year, calculates to a 75-percent decrease in less than 18 months.

“We are in danger of losing our federal match of $100,000 if we do not restore our funding,” she said.

At a time of record state deficits and a recession that may stretch throughout the year, everybody will have to take cuts to balance the budget without tax increases, the last thing any business, women-owned or not, would want. Malysz can make her own case for how much her organization’s allocation can be reduced.

But here’s some other numbers to consider.

Rhode Island ranks 15th nationwide, based on statistics projected from U.S. Census data, in the growth of privately held, majority women-owned businesses from 1997 to 2006. That growth should be encouraged.

Women-owned businesses are here in big enough numbers to prove their importance to Rhode Island’s economy.

John Kostrzewa is the Journal’s business editor. Share an anecdote from the world of business by sending it to pjbiz@projo.com.

Leasing firm expands to R.I.

Consolidation in the equipment leasing business has brought an Arizona-based company to Rhode Island.

RSC Holdings Inc., based in Scottsdale, Ariz., said last week that it agreed to acquire American Equipment Rentals, based in Providence. Terms of the deal that is expected to close in the third quarter of 2008 were not disclosed.

American Equipment provides aerial equipment, forklifts and other rental equipment to commercial construction contractors from three offices in Providence, Woburn, Mass., and New Britain, Conn. American has annual revenues of $19 million, of which 90 percent are rental revenues. The companies’ 80 employees in Rhode Island will stay on with RSC.

RSC Holdings (RRR:NYSE) is the parent of RSC Equipment Rental Inc., one of the largest equipment rental providers in North America. The company has 478 rental locations across 39 states in the United States and in 4 Canadian provinces. It employs 5,500 people. The acquisition of American gives RSC its first offices in the Northeast.

“The addition of American is a key initial step in building a solid presence in New England,” said Erik Olsson, RSC president and chief executive officer.

Biltmore workers ratify contract

Workers at the Providence Biltmore Hotel and Cornerstone Catering, a subcontractor in the banquet department at the hotel, have ratified a four-year contract, retroactive to Feb. 19, which provides wage hikes, an increase in pension contributions and a clarification of language for scheduling.

The 98 waiters, caterers, engineers, housekeepers, cooks, bartenders and other staffers are represented by UNITE HERE Local 217. About half the workers at the hotel will receive a wage increase of $2.30 an hour over the length of the contract. The remaining workers who work for Cornerstone will receive a $2.25 pay boost over four years. Current wages are now in the $12- to $17-an-hour range.

“In the past, we have always had a fight over a contract but this time both sides sat down together to negotiate a fair contract and there was no need for picketing or anything else,” said John Alvarez, lead cook for Cornerstone Catering at the Biltmore and Rhode Island vice president of the local union.

Foreclosures affect children

Foreclosures are hurting homeowners, neighborhoods, banks and the local economy. But here’s another casualty: children.

A new report from First Focus, a children’s advocacy organization, said 6,200 children in Rhode Island will lose their homes in 2008 and 2009 because of a foreclosure on a house.

“When families lose their homes, kids often lose their schools and access to services,” said Bruce Lesley, president of First Focus. “Such changes not only impact their education but their physical and mental health as well.”

The latest figures from Realtytrac, a California-based seller of foreclosure data, show that nationwide there were foreclosure listings on 243,353 properties nationwide in April, up 4 percent from the prior month and up 65 percent from April 2007. Rhode Island had 439 listings, or one for every 1,024 households, up 10.3 percent from the prior month and 63 percent from April 2007. Massachusetts had 5,026 listings, or one for every 539 households and down 9.8 percent from the prior month but up 134 percent from April 2007.

Slot playing slips at Foxwoods

This weekend’s opening of the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort Casino overshadowed the slippage in spending on the slots at the Connecticut casino. The total played in the slots last month was $665 million, compared with $748 million in April 2007. The resulting net slot win — the amount left in the machines after payouts — was $58 million, a $7.3-million decrease from the comparable month a year ago.

“Improvements to our Grand Pequot Tower and the final construction phase of the connector bridge to the new MGM Grand at Foxwoods continued to affect guest access to our gaming areas and concourses. Increased competition in the Northeast gaming market from casinos and gaming facilities in New York and Rhode Island, as well as recessionary trends, have negatively impacted discretionary spending in our customer base,” said Barry Cregan, interim president.

After the bell…

•Bank of America, the U.S.’s biggest consumer bank, said last week that losses on home equity loans may top 2.5 percent, higher than the 2 percent projected just a month ago.

•Republican state senators in Massachusetts are trying to revive Governor Patrick’s plan to license three casinos by attaching an amendment to the state budget bill. Its prospects are doubtful, with House Speaker Sal DiMasi’s continued strong opposition to legalized gambling,

•Rhode Island Kitchen & Bath has relocated its company headquarters from 95 Manchester St. in West Warwick to a new, 10,000-square-foot facility at 139 Jefferson Blvd., in Warwick. The company was founded in 1989 by Steven St. Onge, current president and owner.