Tester Holds Business Workshop For Women Entrepreneurs

MISSOULA, Mont. — Women entrepreneurs packed Senator Jon Tester's small business opportunity workshop in Missoula. The Senator says over 40% of Montana businesses are led by women.

But at the workshop, women learned in the U.S., less than 4% of all venture capital goes to women led businesses.

Senator Tester says we need to figure out why. "There may be great opportunity to create a bunch of jobs to be able to empower these women," said Tester, "to be able to move forward and expand and really help the economy overall to the state."

The woman who owns House Design Studio in downtown Missoula, said business is a challenge in Montana because we're not Fortune 500 country. But that's also what makes us unique.

"I think by default in Montana," said Nicole Hagerman Miller, "we're entrepreneurs because we have to be. We don't have access to Fortune 500 companies, we have to start our own. I think that's the resource, that we're all entrepreneurs and we're all willing to help one another."