African-American Women Entrepreneurs Weigh in On US Election

Anne Segal remembers driving past the for-sale sign outside an ice cream shop in Laurel, Maryland, and telling her husband she wanted to try her hand at running it herself.

“As a woman, who would have thought? I come from Africa. I wouldn’t have thought I would start a business in America,” Segal said as she opens her Sweets and Treats Creamery on this sunny morning.

The last year has not been without its challenges for Segal, who left Uganda 25 years ago to start a new life in the United States.

After leaving a corporate job to focus on family - Segal is the mother of a young daughter - she used her family’s savings to get the year-old ice cream shop off the ground.

“It’s so easy for a man to go to the bank and they give him a loan. Me, a woman: 'What do you do?' 'Oh, I am a housewife.' ‘Oh, yeah, really?’ Nobody’s going to give you a loan,” Segal said.

She is not alone.

Margot Dorfman, CEO of the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce, says the challenges of being a female business owner are reflected in the statistics.

While women own 36 percent of all U.S. companies, they generate only 4 percent of all U.S. annual revenues.

A 2015 chamber report named “Wake Up Call” found 70 percent of women-owned firms have less than $25,000 in revenues annually. Only 1.7 percent have revenues over $1 million, and just 10 percent have paid employees.

“We have been undervalued for decades now, the fact that we still don’t have fair pay. We have to leave corporate America to start our own businesses to maybe get fair pay and a family-friendly work environment, and still struggle when we have gotten into the marketplace,” Dorfman said during an interview at the chamber’s headquarters in Washington.

On who might best address the struggle, Dorfman says Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wins her organization's endorsement.

“She is committed to making sure that small businesses have access to capital and access to markets and is very interested in the access to affordable health care,” the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce CEO said.

If the U.S. presidential campaign were to come down to Republican Donald Trump versus Democrat Hillary Clinton, 60 percent of American women polled in a recent CNN survey said they would cast their ballots for Clinton.

Bukie Opanuga, a Clinton supporter, is paying close attention to women’s workplace issues during this presidential campaign.

“We women do have the power and the ability to drive the conversation in that direction because these are issues that matter to us,” Opanuga said.

The Nigerian-American used high-interest credit cards to grow her Atlanta-based web design firm and has seen firsthand the struggles many women face.

“Some people don’t necessary want to go the entrepreneur route, but they are having to essentially come out of the workplace and become 1099 workers [self-employed] because they are having to choose between a paycheck or being able to take care of a sick child at home. These are some of the issues I am going to be paying attention to – and a lot of women should be paying to,” Opanuga said.

Back in Maryland, Anne Segal is paying close attention to the economy as she works to make her shop profitable.

Though she voted for Barack Obama, she says she is disappointed with Democrats and is now looking in a different direction.

“This time I am going to [vote] for someone who has created a job, who is Trump. He has created a job. He is employing people. When it comes to the economy, at least he knows better than the other guys running around telling us what to do.”

Regardless of whom they support, both Segal and Opanuga say American women should ensure their voices are heard come November.

对冰淇淋店的业主安妮·西格尔来说，过去的一年充满了挑战。

“做为妇女，谁会想到要创业呢？我来自非洲，本来没想到要在美国创业，”她说。

一年前，这位来自乌干达、有一个小女儿的妈妈用家里的积蓄开始了创业之路。

她说：“一名男子要到银行借钱很容易。可是我作为女人就不一样了。人家问你是干什么的，我说是家庭妇女。人家就会说：‘哇，真的？’谁也不会借给我钱的。”

美国妇女商会（U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce）的CEO 玛格特·道夫曼说，从统计数字中可以看出女业主面临的挑战。

虽然妇女拥有36%的美国公司，但是她们的年营收只占全美企业年营收的4%。

道夫曼说：“几十年来我们的收入一直被压得很低，我们仍然没有公平的报酬。因此，我们必须离开公司自己创业，也许这样可以得到公平的收入并且便于照顾家庭。可是我们进入市场以后，仍然十分艰难。“

至于谁能解决这个问题呢？道夫曼说，她们商会支持民主党总统参选人希拉里·克林顿。

她说：“她致力于帮助小企业得到资本并进入市场，也很重视实现低价健康保险。”

美国有线电视新闻网（CNN ）电视台最近做的一项民意调查显示，如果这次美国总统大选成为共和党人川普和民主党人克林顿对决的话，60%的美国妇女表示要把票投给克林顿。

支持希拉里·克林顿的另一位妇女、莫达瓦特公司(Modavate)的CEO布基·欧帕努说，她密切关注妇女的工作场所问题。

在这次竞选期间，欧帕努加说，她密切关注妇女的工作场所问题。

她说：“有些人不一定想走创业的道路，但是，她们实际上是不得不下海成为自由职业者，因为他们必须在就业和照顾孩子之间做出选择。这是我要关注的一些问题，也是许多妇女应该关注的。”

在马里兰州，安妮·西格尔在努力使店铺盈利之际，密切关注经济的走势。

她虽然上一次选举把票投给了奥巴马，但是她说，她对民主党人很失望，现在要考虑转变立场。

她说：“川普创造了工作，雇佣了人。说到经济，他至少比其他那些夸夸其谈的人懂得多。“

不管她们支持谁，西格尔和欧帕努加都说，美国妇女应该确保她们在11月的大选中发出声音。