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Women Entrepreneurs Drive Utah’s

Recovery from the Pandemic

By Marla Trollan, SBA Utah District Director

Since 1987, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has celebrated Women’s History Month to recognize the role women entrepreneurs play in building and strengthening our local and national economies.  Women have transformed the face of entrepreneurship across America in both urban and rural communities. This is especially true as our nation begins to recover from the challenges presented by the COVID 19 pandemic.

Not only did the pandemic hit women in the workforce harder than their male counterparts, but it also hit women-owned businesses harder.  A study recently conducted by Inc.com shows that, because of COVID, 64% of women-owned businesses saw a decrease in revenue and approximately 25% closed completely – 5% more than male-owned businesses.

We cannot sit by and let this pandemic reverse the progress our entrepreneurial women have made over the last generation. The SBA Utah District Office is aware of the vital role women entrepreneurs play in this state. They boost our economy, liven up our communities, provide jobs to other women, and support their own families. In Utah, over 101,000 businesses are owned by women, which is 43.8% of all Utah small businesses. 

According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, women-owned businesses generate $1.7 trillion in sales, and employ over 9 million people in our nation.  These woman-owned businesses represent one of the fastest-growing sectors of our economy.  Given this tremendous growth, women continue to face challenges and obstacles that men don’t when starting and growing a business.

A recent study conducted by the SBA’s Office of Advocacy shows women-owned firms are overrepresented in industries related to domestic services which tend to have low growth potential. The study also presents the following concerning findings:

• Women are more likely than men to run home-based businesses
• Women with children were more likely to have a home-based business.
• Men with children were less likely to operate their businesses from home.
• Women with children at home were less likely to operate in high-growth industries, while the opposite was true for men.
• Women with college degrees were more likely to be in high growth industries like construction and accounting/booking services while men in high growth industries tended to have proportionately fewer college degrees.
• Racial minorities own more businesses in women-concentrated industries such as beauty salons and childcare services.

The SBA continues to support initiatives that benefit the women’s business community by addressing capital access barriers, providing business training, improving access to government contracts, and providing disaster recovery assistance. The SBA Utah District Office assists women entrepreneurs through the Women’s Business Centers of Utah, which help women with starting and growing small businesses. These centers provide a full range of services for women entrepreneurs at all stages of planning, implementation, and growth.  Over the last three years, the WBC of Utah has more than doubled the number of individuals they serve annually and nearly quadrupled their participation – up 380% from 661 sessions in 2019 to 2,516 sessions in 2021.  The WBC of Utah also recently launched a Utah Women-owned Business Directory, which provides women-owned businesses more visibility and allows anyone who would like to support women an easy way to look for services or products.

Other mentoring programs for women include SCORE, a network of thousands of volunteer business counselors around the country who mentor and educate small business owners, and our Small Business Development Centers, a network of business counselors located in 13 regional centers across the state.  Recently, the agency launched an online training platform called Ascent, which provides a wide range of coaching journeys to build business knowledge.

For those interested in contracting with the federal government, the Women-Owned Business Certification helps equalize the procurement process for women business owners, as the government limits competition for certain contracts to businesses certified as women-owned.  This initiative compliments SBA’s 8(a) program in assisting socially and economically disadvantaged business owners to access federal contracts.

At the SBA, our role is to support all entrepreneurs in recovering from recent challenges and realizing new growth for their businesses. This is especially true for our women entrepreneurs, whom we duly recognize during National Women’s History Month.

Recognition of Woman-owned Business

During Woman History Month

Establish Design Salt Lake City, Utah

Kimberly Rasmussen and Elizabeth Wixom’s passion for architecture and interior design has been a part of them since they were young. One of Kimberly’s most cherished memories is visiting the San Francisco Design Market and taking in every detail. The market was the fire behind her passion for pairing furnishings, artwork, and accessories within the home, and continues to inspire her interior design work professionally. Elizabeth enjoyed spending her time as a young creative drawing floor plans of her family’s houses, arranging their furniture in different ways to fit the space she was given. Today, her love for floor plans and eye for design drive her creativity professionally.

While training for a marathon together, Elizabeth and Kimberly recognized that they not only had a common aesthetic taste, but also a common set of values, leading them to found Establish Design, formerly Elizabeth Kimberly Design, in 2006. Guided by their love for family, friends, and all things beautiful, they saw the potential for growth working side by side and became a brilliant collaborative team that together creates comfortable and appealing home atmospheres. The duo later built upon the company in June 2016 by adding architecture to their expertise, and rebranding   to fit their vision as a company to the way it exists today.

The company’s growth over the past 15 years has included new builds on beautiful properties across the United States. In addition to their many projects throughout the Wasatch Front, Establish Design has had the opportunity to design residences in a variety of locations from west coast beaches to Montana ranches. They wanted to fully embrace their success and growth by expanding and having a location where people could come in and fully appreciate their work.

With the help of an SBA 504 loan, Kimberly and Elizabeth secured a new building space for their company in the Millcreek area, with completion anticipated for next spring. Designed by the Establish Design Team itself, the location will reflect the business and its values. The new building will allow for additional space to create custom homes with details that illuminate lives for years to come.

From the architecture to the tile, hardware, furnishings, and artwork, Elizabeth and Kimberly design each home to represent the life, aesthetics, and passions of each client. The most important part of their process is creating a home that reflects the personalities of those who will dwell within. This new location will allow others to see the beauty that can be created in a space.

“We offer a true collaboration from architecture down to accessories. Our projects are tailored to a life, a    story, and a vision,” says Kimberly, Co-owner and Principal Design partner, whose ability to size up a space is uncanny—offering clients an instant catalog of ideas from custom furnishings and finishes, art, and accessories—all with an aim to create impact. “This isn’t about getting through a to-do list, we offer an exhilarating journey to clients where their vision fuses with our expertise to create something special.”

Co-owner and Principal Design partner, Elizabeth, agrees, adding that the process of creating a thoughtful home is thrilling not just for the client, but for the entire team. “Each detail is weighed in the balance of the realization of someone’s vision,” she says. “A home is not simply made of sticks and bricks    but built by breathing life into ideas and dreams.”

Since the founding of their company, Elizabeth and Kimberly have been moved to share their expertise in design and entrepreneurship with design classrooms across the state of Utah, allowing students to visualize their passions becoming their career, regardless of what area of expertise they are hoping to succeed in. Additionally, they have worked to donate materials to schools, where students can experience working with real design materials in a creative learning environment.

Input Needed in a Statewide Survey of

Women Business Owners

Top Utah SBA Lenders Recognized for their Hard Work During the Pandemic. 

Lender Awards Ceremony Highlights

Vice President Kamala Harris and Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland Among the Speakers for the 2022 Women’s Business Summit

March 28-30, 2022 

Women’s Business Summit Schedule

Announcement of This Year’s National Small Business Week: Building a Better America Through Entrepreneurship 

Read Press Release 

U.S. Senators Applaud SBA Administrator Guzman’s Decision to Extend Additional Deferment to Existing COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program Borrowers

Read Press Release

2022 Women’s Business Summit

March 28-30

In honor of Women’s History Month, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) will hold its 2022 Women’s Business Summit on March 28-30, 2022. The summit will consist of virtual panels, “Ask an Expert” workshops, and fireside chats to help women-owned small businesses build, scale, and grow. In-person salon/listening sessions will also be held by local and regional hosts. The event will be held in co-sponsorship with the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center.

Registration is required. 

Click here to register

Save the Date for the

National Small Business Week

May 6, 2022

SBA Learning Center

SBA’s online learning programs are designed to empower and educate small business owners every step of the way.

Click Here to Start Learning

Free Local Business Counseling

The SBA works with the Small Business Development Centers, the Women’s Business Centers, SCORE, and other partners to counsel, mentor, and train small businesses.

Find Local Assistance Now

Find a SBA Lender

Find a Lender Near You 

Are you a Women-Owned Business?

Get Listed on the Utah Women-Owned Business Directory

Search the Directory or Sign Up

Utah District Office Annual Report

SBA Utah District Office 2020 Annual Report 

UTAH SBA DIRECTORY

Marla Trollan, District Director
marla.trollan@sba.gov, (o) 801-524-3209 (c) 385-218-1995

John Gygi, Deputy District Director
john.gygi@sba.gov, (o) 801-524-3209 (c) 801-889-6170

Karl Wernick, Lender Relations Specialist
karl.wernick@sba.gov, (o) 801-524-3209 (c) 385-355-5815

Don MacMillan, Lender Relations Specialist
donald.macmillan@sba.gov, (o) 801-524-3209 (c) 385-429-8627

Cody Neville, Business Opportunity Specialist
cody.neville@sba.gov, (o) 801-524-3209 (c) 801-828-0796

Jackie Hobson, Public Affairs, Outreach, and Marketing Specialist               jackie.hobson@sba.gov, (0) 801-524-3209 (c)  202-941-8005

Cheryl Richens, Administrative Officer
cheryl.richens@sba.gov, (o) 801-524-3209