For real estate agent Ruthie Smythe, it's both empowering and unsettling at the same time.

Smythe, an owner and broker-in-charge of Charleston-based Lane & Smythe Real Estate, has felt the gamut of emotions after walking into a roomful of male colleagues at professional conferences or meetings.

On one hand, it's a compliment to know she's one of few women to reach the upper tier in her industry. At the same time, "you really start questioning why you're the only one," Smythe said.

Come Saturday, though, Smythe will have some company. That's when Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Center for Women are staging their second Women in Business conference. The event, of which The Post and Courier is a sponsor, is geared toward the growing ranks of female entrepreneurs and professionals in the region.

"Women are starting businesses at a phenomenal rate," said Jennet Robinson

Alterman, executive director of the Center for Women.

Between 1997 and 2002, the number of women-owned businesses in South Carolina jumped from 64,232 to 76,831, a 16 percent increase, according to the state Office of Research and Statistics. For the Charleston area, the growth was even higher, at 37 percent.

The numbers show that the growth is reshaping a range of industries, including the technology and construction businesses, while smashing outdated stereotypes, Alterman said.

The shift is fueling a demand for business resources tailored for women, a gap the conference is seeking to fill, Alterman and other organizers said.

One of the biggest unmet needs: access to capital. With that in mind, Janet W. Christy, author of "Capitalizing on Being Woman Owned", will lead a workshop on how women can tap into public and private funds or business programs created for them.

Christy said some bigger corporations, such as Bank of America, set annual goals of how much of their supplies and services come from women- or minority-owned vendors. Many of those companies also have a small business liaison to manage these accounts.

In the public realm, Christy added, the federal government aims to spend at least 5 percent of its contracting funds with women-owned businesses. The state of South Carolina provides a 4 percent tax credit up to $25,000 to prime contractors that use women-owned firms as subcontractors.

Other workshops are lighter in nature, focusing more on the social issues that women can encounter in the workplace.

Dorothy Perrin Moore, a College of Charleston professor, will lead a session on how working women can balance their professional responsibilities with family priorities.

While researching her book, "Careerpreneurs - Lessons From Leading Women Entrepreneurs on Building A Career Without Boundaries", Moore found that even the basic concept of balance can differ between a man and a women.

"Women tend to associate balance with being able to make family a priority," she said. "Men consider balance as finding personal time for themselves."

One group that conference organizers hope to target are mothers who re-enter the workforce after raising their children. New York-based marketing consultant Patricia Simone, a mother-of-three, said they can bring special skills to the market.

"Women, by nature, are really good at juggling," said Simone, who will speak Saturday about effectively marketing a business or a product. "We're pretty good with change ... and those skills transfer well into the business world."

Women in Business Conference

When: 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday
Where: Charleston Area Convention Center
Cost: $95 for Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce members; $105 for non-members; $50 for students.

For more information about the conference, go to www.c4women.org.

Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549 or kstech@postandcourier.com.