The number of companies nationwide owned by women increased 2.8 percent in 2016 over the previous year, but slid 1.8 percent in Maine, recent U.S. Census data show. Maine women owned 5,213 companies, employed 41,426 people and had a payroll of $1.4 billion in 2016. That’s about 27 percent of all Maine businesses in 2016, outpacing the 20 percent of all U.S.