Appeal for Next US President to Help Women in Business

Appeal for Next US President to Help Women in Business

Before Americans knew who would become the next president, a group of business leaders sent a letter to the two main candidates.

Elizabeth Gore¹ wrote the letter, and 85 business leaders, both men and women, signed it.

Gore serves an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Dell computer company. Her letter urges the next president to take steps that would make it easier for businesses owned by women to grow.

The letter was called “What We Need to Succeed.”

Gore noted² that in the United States, women are starting new businesses twice as often as men, but their businesses too often fail. She thinks this is because women do not receive the same amount of financial support as men when their companies are launched. Also, she wrote, companies operated by men get more attention in the media.

Gore and the business leaders who signed the letter offered a list of things the government could do to help women-owned businesses.

Their suggestions include helping³ more women entrepreneurs get start-up loans. One way to do this is by offering incentives⁵ – motivation for banks or investors⁶ to make such loans. For example, cutting taxes on earnings⁷ from investments in women-owned businesses would make those companies more appealing to investors.

Gore’s letter called on the new U.S. president to make it easy for businesses of all sizes to sell products and services in other countries.

The letter went on to ask the new president to support changes in America’s education system. Gore wrote about the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She said some young women do not get the support they need to study those subjects while in school.

Actress Jessica Alba was one of the people who signed the letter. Alba started The Honest Company, which makes products without using dangerous chemicals. Another signatory was Melanie Whelan, who launched an exercise studio business called SoulCycle.

Two other signatories are Steve Case, the founder⁸ of AOL, and Rhonda Vetere, the chief technology officer of Estee Lauder.

The business leaders were not just appealing to the idea of equality between men and women. Gore noted a study that found the U.S. economy could grow by $30 billion if women were more actively⁹ involved.

Gore told VOA “I always think about the venture funding gap, but there’s really a gap in the whole cycle.”

Another study found that women-owned businesses grew faster than those owned by men in the 10 years ending in 2007. A U.S. Department of Commerce report showed these businesses added 500,000 jobs to the economy.

Gore said there are many good social reasons to support women in business. But the most important reason is that it is good for business.

“If [women] get access to capital, they outperform their male peers,” she said. “That is a good business bet, not just a social bet.”

Gold told VOA recently that president-elect Donald Trump¹⁰ has yet to answer her letter. But she and some of the other signatories plan to visit Washington in February. They plan to meet with politicians and “explain why it’s critical for our country and the economy to be prioritizing the success of women entrepreneurs.”

Words in This Story

start-up – n. a new business

capital – n. money, property, etc., that is used to start or operate a business

critical – adj. extremely important

prioritize – v. to make (something) the most important thing in a group

venture – n. a new activity, project, business, etc., that typically involves risk

attractive – adj. having a feature or quality that people like

incentive⁴ – n. something that encourages a person to do something

entrepreneur – n. a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money

in-residence – n. having an official position as a writer, artist, etc., who has been chosen to live and work at a college or other institution for a period of time

1 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

5 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

9 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

10 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。