Database Helps Consumers Tap Into 700K Women-Owned Businesses
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Anyone interested in boosting businesses owned by women will want to see what two Twin Cities women just created.
MAIA.community is an online directory that puts the names, addresses and phone numbers of 700,000 woman-owned businesses at your fingertips.
"Consumers can search for free all the time and go spend their money with women business owners," said Kateri Ruiz, co-founder and CEO of MAIA.communnity.
Ruiz, a mother of four daughters, came up with the idea for this free, searchable national database. She wanted to create an easy way for women to align their purchasing power with their commitment to equality.
Kateri and co-founder Angel Rowell researched public records in every state.
"They're out there. There are 11 million women business owners and counting," Ruiz said. "They exist all around us. They're not always easy to find."
Urban Growler Brewing Company in St. Paul is one example of a listing, but you can find nearly every kind of business or service from restaurants, bakeries and clothing stores to bike shops.
They are included in the directory for free, but they can choose to have a paid listing with many more details and photos for $100 a year.
"My mission is 100 percent around giving light and love to all of these women business owners so that they can grow and thrive and replicate," Ruiz said.
The MAIA.community website launched two weeks ago, and it is growing every day.
