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Women-Owned Businesses in Brooklyn Soar 39 Percent in 5 Years, Study Shows

 Sid Azmi, the owner of Please, an adult boutique in Park Slope that opened last year.
Sid Azmi, the owner of Please, an adult boutique in Park Slope that opened last year.
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DNAinfo/Leslie Albrecht

BROOKLYN — Women-owned businesses are gaining ground in Brooklyn, according to a new study published Tuesday that noted a 39 percent increase in the borough over a five-year period.

Brooklyn topped the list for the number of women-owned businesses in the five boroughs in 2012, according to the study from the Center for an Urban Future, which crunched the most recently available census data from 2012. 

Brooklyn recorded 118,489 women-owned firms in 2012. The borough had higher numbers than all but three major U.S. cities — New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. 

Manhattan came in at 114,896, followed by Queens at 97,982, The Bronx at 68,705 and Staten Island at 13,921, the study showed.

Between 2007 and 2012, there was a 39 percent increase in women-owned businesses across racial and ethnic groups in Brooklyn. The Bronx had the biggest jump in the city at 53 percent. 

Brooklyn however only came in third in the city for total number of employees at women-owned businesses.

Overall in New York City, women-owned businesses grew by 36 percent between 2007 and 2012, according to data from the U.S. Census, Survey of Business Owners, published in Dec. 2015.

During the same time period, men-owned businesses increased by only 8 percent.

While data beyond 2012 was not available, the center recently analyzed the companies working at the Pratt Design Incubator and found that nine out of 13 had a female founder, according to Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the Center for an Urban Future.

Similarly, at NYU's incubator in DUMBO, two of the 10 companies had a female founder.