Nearly half of Utah's women-owned businesses were defined as retail trade, health care and social assistance or other services. There were also 1,577 women-owned companies in the state's construction industry, with a combined revenue of $421 million.

The businesses were heavily concentrated along the Wasatch Front. Two of every five women-owned businesses in Utah are in Salt Lake County, where 19,503 businesses had $2.8 billion in annual sales and receipts. There were 7,678 women-owned firms in Utah County, 5,440 in Davis and 3,697 in Weber.

Salt Lake City had the most women-owned businesses, 4,402. It was followed by Sandy with 1,991, West Jordan with 1,841 and Orem with 1,654.

The report, released every five years, is used along with independent projections as the source for data on women- and minority-owned businesses. A bill being debated by state lawmakers, HB236, would allow the state Department of Commerce to also collect such data, which would be provided optionally.

Census Bureau spokesman Mark Bergman said the 2002 data can be compared only broadly to 1997 because of different data collection methods and a different way of looking at the industry.

Among the report's findings:

• There were 117,069 women-owned firms with receipts of $1 million or more in 2002.

• Some 7,240 women-owned firms had 100 employees or more, generating $275 billion in gross receipts.

• Nearly one-third of women-owned firms operated in health care, social assistance and other services such as personal services and repair and maintenance.

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com