According to the Center for Women’s Business Research, 8 million U.S. businesses are majority women-owned. Women-owned firms have an economic impact of $3 trillion that translates into the creation and/or maintenance of 23 million jobs, 16 percent of all U.S. jobs.

Marianne Markowitz, U.S. Small Business Administration regional administrator, was in Crystal Lake Thursday visiting Direct Steel, a woman-owned construction firm.

In honor of Women’s History Month, Markowitz is visiting several women-owned businesses each week. Her six-state Midwest office includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.