“Women hold nearly 60% of the jobs in the food-service industry, yet they don’t receive 60% of the recognition,” said Jessica Dunker, president and CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association. “It’s time to stop, look around with a little more intentionality, and take notice of their contributions.” 

To this end, the association will select 40 Iowa women in the industry to feature in the summer print edition of the Food and Beverage Iowa Business Quarterly and offer expanded stories of the women on their website. 

According to Dunker, a top reason women don’t get as much recognition as men in the industry is that the most visible restaurant roles are those of the chef owner/operator, and only about one-third of restaurants are majority-owned by women.  

“But that is changing.” Dunker said. “Between 2007 and 2012 [the most current figures available], the number of majority-women-owned restaurants jumped 40%.”

Nominations can be submitted online through May 15.