(FORTUNE Small Business) – Marcia Veidmark, 56, has been running her Phoenix-based construction firm since 1969. She has 30 employees, owns 89% of the stock, and was recently recognized by the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce as a leading small-business owner. Yet the city government won't accept that Veidmark runs her own company. Other women encounter the same skepticism. After FSB's report on the rise of woman-owned businesses in America (see "Why Women Rule" on fsb.com), we received many angry e-mails. "What idiots you are," wrote one reader. "Woman-owned businesses are increasing because they are eligible for different taxes and rules." In fact, woman business owners are not entitled to special tax breaks. They are eligible for contracting assistance under the SBA's Section 8A program for disadvantaged groups. But even though women control nearly half of all private U.S. firms, they receive just 2.9% of all federal contracts, according to the Women's Business Research Center in Washington, D.C. Veidmark has applied twice to Phoenix officials to be certified as a woman-owned business but has been rejected. "Not being accredited has hurt my business," she says. Phoenix officials did not return calls seeking comment. — RICHARD MCGILL MURPHY