for 26 years, hedy ratner has been on the front lines of helping women entrepreneurs. she's the co- president of the women's business development center. you're putting on a big entrepreneurial woman's conference in chicago this week. give me the status. a lot of metrics would indicate women have reached parity, but i can't believe that's truly true. > > i wish that were true, but we are not at a level playing field. however, women are growing businesses, are starting businesses, and are successful at business. probably more than 40% of all businesses in this country today are women- owned. but the revenues they generate are far less. > > now the changes though have been dramatic since you started your organization 26 years ago. > > less than 10% of all businesses were women-owned, the age of the women was quite different, and the industries and trades were different. now, women are in every industry and every trade, and young women are looking at business ownership as a vehicle right out of college, because they have ideas and experience and technology, and the use of