NH's Top Women-Led Companies

HP, PepsiCo, DuPont, and Yahoo-these are just some of the Fortune 500 companies led by women. Here in NH, women are leading such heavy-hitters as PC Connection, Freudenberg North America and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NH to success. 

This issue marks the inaugural list of the top 50 women-led companies in NH, presented in partnership with The Commonwealth Institute, a Boston-based nonprofit that helps women-led businesses succeed. Its membership includes CEOs, senior corporate executives, and solo professionals.

What we found is no surprise-women-led businesses contribute significantly to the state's economy, collectively posting billions in revenues. That said, this list includes companies with revenues starting at $1 million (a number we expect to increase), while our annual list of the Top 100 Private Companies starts with revenues of $15 million.

 These companies employ more than 56,550 people, with about 7,000 of those jobs in NH. Like NH as a whole, most companies are small-32 of the 50 have less than 100 employees. The majority (16) of these women-led businesses are in the professional services sector, followed by eight each in manufacturing/technology and retail/wholesale, six in construction and engineering, and four in healthcare and insurance.

While we did not find statistics on the number of women-led businesses in the state, NH had 36,000 women-owned businesses in 2007-25.8 percent of all firms, according to the The Women's Fund of NH. Comparatively 28.7 percent of firms nationally were women-owned.

Aileen Gorman, executive director of The Commonwealth Institute, is optimistic those numbers will rise. I definitely think women are moving into entrepreneurial situations at a much greater rate and are more willing to tackle a new entrepreneurial venture, Gorman says.

In addition to The Commonwealth Institute, we thank Women Inspiring Women, The NH Women's Initiative and the Center for Women's Business Advancement at Southern NH University for helping promote this list. If your company belongs on this list, contact Editor Matt Mowry at mmowry@BusinessNHmagazine.com.