Owning your own business is the quintessence of the American Dream. The freedom of self-employment and control of your own earnings is a temptation for many, a feeling shared by 9.6 million people across the nation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Yet for generations of women, it was an unattainable goal. Until 1988, a spouse or male relative was required to co-sign a loan application, and the glass ceiling of the workplace extended to entrepreneurship. This changed when Congress signed the Women’s Business Ownership Act, the first piece of legislation to recognize the contribution of female entrepreneurs to the American economy.
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