A recent reports ranks San Luis Obispo County among the best in the nation for women to own businesses.
The company 'NerdWallet' analyzed nearly 200 metro areas zeroing in on factors crucial to small-business success, like local financing opportunity and business climate. They ranked the San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles and Arroyo Grande metro area number six in the nation.
Lori Jordan is with Cal Poly's Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. She works with students to bring their business ideas to the next level.
"We are always looking to help support anyone who wants to try and start a business," said Jordan. "We feel that we offer programming that helps bring any student through the door, including women."
She said because their program isn't limited to business students, you see diversity.
One factor in business that is harder to measure is relationships. Kimberly Walker owns a restaurant and hotel in San Luis Obispo. She said the tight-knit community is part of her day-to-day; she often sees colleagues in both business and common settings.
"I think relationships are very important in business, especially for women, because women have a couple more hurdles to go through usually and so San Luis is a great place for that," said Walker
On the NerdWallet list, California metros did well. Santa Cruz ranked number four, followed by Santa Rosa and San Luis Obispo. Boulder, Colorado came in first place.
