My dear friend Marcy Shinder at OPEN American Express has a wonderful blog and is always sharing interesting and useful information through Twitter, @marcyshinder. Yesterday she presented this amazing news about women’s job creation, which was just published by Count Me In and OPEN’s frequent partner, WIPP:

Women-owned firms employ 16% of US jobs - 23 million people!

3:56 PM October 7, 2009

We have never had information before that reflected the overall economic impact of women-owned firms.  Today we have it and it reveals the magnitude of importance that small business plays in the overall economy.

Women-owned firms produce employment for more than 23 million people in the United states, or 16% of our 2008 workforce.*.   This means that approximately 8% of the total labor force work directly for a woman-owned firm.  This is astonishing news.

But what really is remarkable, is that that 80% of the women businesses are NOT employer firms.

What would this mean to our national economic recovery if we increased the number of "employer" firms to 25%? To 30%?  How many more people would join the ranks of the employed?

It is time to start focusing on strategies and policies to make this happen.  WIPP is asking these questions and addressing these issues directly.

This comes on the heels of research that shows that, literally any day now, the number of women in the labor force will equal men, but are still being paid less for the same work.

I heard a quotation today that’s very appropriate. Thomas Edison said, “People frequently miss opportunity because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.” What I’m seeing today is that women who work don’t get paid enough, and women who can put people to work don’t employ enough.

But we are on the cusp of changing that.

Every woman can be a part of this movement by taking on the piece that affects their own lives, in their current job, their new job, or as the leader of their business. Women are about to hit critical mass, and make the big push that will tilt the scales until they’re balanced. We have the strength, the energy, and the confidence to make it possible.

In just two weeks, the Count Me In community is getting together at Castor and Pollux [see “Fired Up!”] in New York for an event that will be full of energy and confidence. We are celebrating our partnership with cosmetics maven and revolutionary entrepreneur, Poppy King - who has designed ‘Fired Up!’ lip gloss, with 100% of profits going straight to Count Me In and our community. She designed ‘Fired Up’ to bring back the classic 1940’s red that has been worn by confident, powerful women ever since we answered the call of ‘Rosie the Riveter’. Poppy and I will both be there, speaking, signing books, and having a great time with all of you. Poppy will also have ‘Fired Up’ for sale!

Mark your calendars, ladies.

October 21, 2009 6pm-9pm

Castor and Pollux

238 W. 10^th St NY, NY

Refreshments from Count Me In businesses will be served!