The Akron Legal News

Proposed legislation designed to boost women's leadership role in business

KEITH ARNOLD
Special to the Legal News
Published: February 11, 2016

The joint sponsors of a House bill recently encouraged some of their Senate counterparts to sign on to an effort to amplify women’s leadership role in business.

Assistant Majority Whip Dorothy Pelanda, R-Marysville, and fellow Republican from Hilliard, Rep. Stephanie Kunze, pitched the idea of designating the second week of March as Ohio Women’s Week for Policy and Entrepreneurship to members of the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee.

House Bill 103 would work to connect state policymakers and entrepreneurs with the goal of highlighting and assisting Ohio women in their business endeavors.

“Our hope is to further encourage an entrepreneurial spirit among women leaders and provide opportunities for them to connect and share their experiences and to better connect women entrepreneurs with access to mentors and to venture capital,” Kunze told committee members. “In order to continue supporting Ohio’s economic comeback, it is crucial that we support our job-creating entrepreneurs.”

She cited data demonstrating her point: a 68 percent growth rate for Ohio women-owned businesses since 1997 and Ohio’s ranking in the top 10 for states boasting the greatest number of women-owned businesses.

If passed into law, H.B. 103 requires the state and private sector to work together to host a two-day forum during Women’s Week.

The forum will occur every two years on the even numbered year. A special committee will be appointed in March of the odd numbered year preceding the forum.

The committee will include members from majority and minority parties of the House and Senate, community leaders, entrepreneurs, business leaders and appointees by the governor.

According to testimony, the committee will be responsible for issuing a report to the General Assembly due after the forum and they will manage the application process leading up to the forum for the competition.

A highlight of the forum will be a competition during the two-day forum for newly established entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs with developing business plans. The committee will choose a winner of the competition.

The committee also will establish requirements applicants must satisfy to participate in the competition, including owning a business that is registered with the Secretary of State and that has been in operation for three or more years; employing three or more individuals on the payroll of the business, including the owner of the business; and possessing a valid professional or occupational license, certificate, registration, or permit if one is required to conduct business in Ohio.

“Our goal is to nurture communication among legislators, community leaders, and businesses, entrepreneurs, and women leaders so that we can find opportunities for women, specifically in leadership,” Pelanda said.

She shared the following data — statistics from a recent Pew Research Center poll subsequently published in Forbes — with her Senate counterparts:

• Last year, women comprised 24 percent of all state legislators in the United States;

• Twenty-six women are serving as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies;

• Women account for 26 percent of college presidents; and

• The median hourly earnings for female workers 16 and older were 84 percent of men’s earnings in 2012.

Pelanda cited a few final statistics from the article, with a nod to the legal profession.

“Today, about one-in-three professionals in the legal field are women, and so are one-in-five partners in private law firms. Women also make up about a quarter of U.S. federal and state court judges.

“There is still more work to be done.”

The bill proposes funding by the Department of Administrative Services through the LeanOhio Office.

According to the Ohio Legislative Service Commission analysis, the department would incur costs in the range of $100,000 or more to provide a program administrator or other clerical staff, meeting space, and expense reimbursements for each appointed Ohio Women's Policy and Entrepreneurship Committee.

The analysis noted possible additional costs for event planning services associated with the competition to be held in even-numbered years under the bill.

The measure passed the House June 10 on a vote of 91-4.

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