(WACO) — Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar visited Waco today as part of his Good for Texas Tour to highlight women in the Texas workforce and their important impact on the Texas economy. Hegar is celebrating the work of Lisa Zoellner, chief strategy and marketing officer of Neighborly.
Founded in 1981 as Dwyer Group, Neighborly is a holding company for 21 service-based franchise organizations focused on repairing, maintaining and enhancing customers’ homes and businesses. It is part of the business and professional services industry, and some of its franchise brands include Mr. Rooter, Molly Maid and Mr. Electric.
“Texas women hold about 45 percent of the jobs in the business and professional services industry, which contributed nearly $180 billion to the Texas economy,” Hegar said. “This industry includes the management of companies and the enterprise sector, which employed about 60,000 women statewide in 2017.”
During his Good for Texas Tour: Women in the Workforce Edition, Hegar is sharing the results of a study the Comptroller’s office recently completed examining the impact of women on the Texas economy. He is touring facilities and meeting with some of the exemplary women who hold leadership roles in all sectors of Texas’ economy.
Prior to joining Neighborly, Zoellner was executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Golfsmith International. Previously, she was senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Gold’s Gym International. She lauded Neighborly’s commitment to cultivating the careers of women in the professional and business sector and in the trades, noting initiatives such as the “Women in Trades” program, which awards scholarships to eligible applicants to be applied at a trade or technical school.
“At Neighborly, we value women’s skills, experience and perspective, and actively develop women leaders to help drive our growth,” Zoellner said.
Zoellner is part of a business and professional services industry which generates additional business activities that support 1.1 million jobs across Texas.
“The focus of this tour is to highlight the profound impact Texas women have on the health of the state economy,” Hegar added.
In all, nearly 6 million women held jobs in Texas in 2017. Texas’ women-owned businesses employed 808,200 workers and generated about $134.2 million in sales.
“I hope this tour also will emphasize the need to ensure women have equal access to advancement in the workplace,” Hegar said.
Further efforts are needed to eliminate barriers to women’s entrepreneurship and access to top-level positions. Three of the most women-dominated occupations in Texas — personal care and service, health care support and office and administrative support — are among the lowest-paid occupations in the state.
And even in higher-paying occupations, such as health care and technology, the share of women employed in the highest-paying jobs is significantly smaller than that of men.