CITY MALL: Woman-Owned Businesses Grow in Muskego and Across the US

The summer of 2011 has seen a new restaurant and a luxury spa open in Muskego, and an existing marketing firm expanding into a new, larger facility here.  In today’s struggling economy, these welcome signs of growth are showing up in businesses that share a common characteristic:  all are owned by women.

That’s a trend reflected across the U.S., according to the American Express OPEN report issued in March, 2011, showing the number of woman-owned firms in the U.S. grew by 50% between 1997 and 2011 – a rate 1 ½ times the national average.

Still, woman-owned companies in Wisconsin have a lot of catching up to do with the rest of the country:  Wisconsin ranked at 37 among all states in growth of woman-owned businesses and at 39 among states in revenue growth among woman-owned businesses for the period.

Here are a few of Muskego’s businesses that are owned or managed by women.

Katie Orvis, Edward Jones: 

Orvis began working for Edward Jones in November of 2001 as an assistant and eventually grew to take over the office in June of 2008, holding Series 7, Series 66 and insurance licenses. 

“My love is really helping my clients make sense of investing,” Orvis said. Orvis recently moved to a larger office at S72 W16484 Janesville Road to accommodate growth. “I’m excited about where Muskego is going and I think it’s a great community to be in,” she said.

Lauren Busch, L Spa

Busch originally expanded her business in 2003 when she had to hire staff to keep up with demand for massage and nail care services. The business continued to grow, moving from New Berlin to Muskego on July 6, 2011.

Bush has been impressed with the City of Muskego’s willingness to support her business through an intensive “gutting and remodeling” process that was condensed into a short time period from May 27 through July 6 of 2011, she said.

L Spa is located at S76 W17527 Janesville Road.  The spa is offering 20% off any service to new customers who identify themselves as Muskego Patch readers and who use services no later than August 26, 2011.  Call the spa at (262) 782-5772 for more information. 

Liz Kaminski, LK Marketing

Kaminski tells the world on her website that she’s been in sales since she sold donuts door-to-door for a school fundraiser at the age of 7.  Her business, LK Marketing, was founded in 2000 and has grown by providing Virtual Inside Sales Assistants to companies throughout North America, she said.

With an appointment-setting business that’s doubled in size every year since 2000, Kaminski’s greatest challenge is finding employees to handle the businesses she’s bringing in, Kaminski said. For more information contact Kaminski at (414) 235-4870 or email at info@lkmkt.com.