Suited for Commerce : Governor Praises Women in Business at Anaheim Conference

“Women are starting and building small businesses into the engine of California’s growth,” Gov. Pete Wilson said Thursday at a women’s conference in Anaheim that drew more than 2,500 people.

Another 1,000 were turned away from the gathering, the first successful effort of its kind since 1988, when a conference organized by state Sen. William Campbell fell apart amid charges of misuse of funds. The annual Campbell conferences at one time drew as many as 14,000 people.

Seminars at Thursday’s one-day gathering focused on practical business advice, politics and lifestyle issues such as fitness and time management. The conference was sponsored by the governor’s office, the state Department of Commerce, the California Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Wilson noted that the conference was being held at a time of economic challenge for the state. “You are here to share your energy and your ideas, to set the stage for our great comeback,” he told those attending. “The only real antidote to austerity is prosperity.”

Earlier in the day, the governor held a ceremonial signing of legislation, passed in September, to create the California Council to Promote Business Ownership by Women. The council, which will be part of the state Department of Commerce, is charged with identifying the special problems of women-owned businesses and recommending solutions.

He spoke about his support for women-related programs: a tax form check-off for donations to breast cancer research, access to prenatal care, enforcement of child support payments and mental health counseling for schoolchildren.

Women own 5.4 million businesses, or 28% of U.S. companies, according to a study released in March. Those businesses employed nearly 11 million people in 1990, almost as many as the companies making up the Fortune 500.

In California, women own about 9,000 businesses, according to the National Assn. of Women Business Owners. That group also estimates that women nationally are starting businesses at twice the rate of men.

Thursday’s speakers included Mary Hart of “Entertainment Tonight”; Ruth Handler, founder of Mattel Inc., and Camron Cooper, senior vice president and treasurer of Arco.

While the tone of the conference was upbeat and collegial, many of the day’s speakers emphasized the need for more unity among women.

Susan Estrich, who was Michael Dukakis’ campaign manager in his 1988 bid for the presidency, challenged the idea that 1992 is the “Year of the Woman.”

“I think sexism has dissipated to the extent that, if there is an open seat, a woman has as good a shot or better than a man,” said Estrich, who is now a law professor at USC. But she noted that 94% of incumbent men who ran were returned to the Senate, as were 88% to the House.

Dr. Frances Conley, a professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University, spoke about pay and status inequities between medical specialties dominated by men and primary-care positions, where more women doctors are finding jobs.

Conley found fame last year when she quit the Stanford faculty, alleging sexual harassment by her colleagues. She later returned to her job.

“I’m still a paraiah, and I’m still considered a traitor, and the dean treats me like I don’t exist,” she said. “But I’m still there.”

Conley, too, urged women to work together. She said there are deep divisions between career women and homemakers.

“This has been breeding such resentment that to this date we are not a unified force,” she said.

One woman who attended the conference, Geraldine Hurley of Los Angeles, said that speaking with other women Thursday opened her eyes. President of the Halfway Childrens Auxiliary in Los Angeles, Hurley attended a seminar on volunteerism in which another seminar attendee had asked how to break the news to her husband that she would be spending time on outside activities.

“I realized women are struggling at different stages,” Hurley said. “I thought we had come farther. Now I see I need to help other women.”