Report: NC Ranks #2 State In US For Women-Owned Businesses

CONCORD, N.C. – “If you want something, you have to go get it,” says small business owner Chrissy Santos. She went and got it. And now, she wants to help other people get it. She says, “When I first started, I felt so alone,” she says. Santos ran her boutique, called The Palmetto Market, out of her Kannapolis home for ten years, until just last month when she moved into her first storefront in downtown Concord. Santos says, “I asked my husband and he said, ‘go follow your dreams.'”

Santos is part of a growing number of women-owned businesses. In fact, the 2023 report from the National Women’s Business Council shows the share of all women-owned employers increased from 9.8 percent in 2019 to 10.2 percent in 2023, while the men’s share decreased from 19.4 percent to 18.3 percent. The same report shows that North Carolina is the number two state in the country for women-owned businesses. Data shows that’s for a variety of reasons including tax incentives, training and mentorship.

Santos says, “I’m really proud of the work that I’ve put into this and how I’m able to give back to the community through teaching classes.” One of those classes includes a marketing class for the Rowan Cabarrus Community College Small Business Center. She says, “It’s so heartwarming because I was in that class just a few years ago.” She’s also carries 17 other local businesses in her store that are very small or in the start-up phase. Santos says, “So that I could kind of take them under my wing and guide them through the process of being able to expand and be in other stores, so that one day they could have their own storefront.”

Santos knows, she says, in her bones, that she is on the right path. She says, “I knew that this is where I was supposed to be.”

Santos and The Palmetto Market participate in the upcoming Art Walk on Union on Saturday, April 6th, if you want to check them out.