Small Business Stats Show Minority, Women Growth

A new state profile of small business statistics shows that Arkansas small businesses shrunk in 2008 while the number of women-owned and minority-owned business grew, according to the latest figures available.

The statistics, which you can read here, are compiled by the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. The profile uses recent data regarding small business employment, business starts and closings, bank lending, business ownership by minorities, women, and veterans, and firm and employment change by major industry and firm size.

Some highlights include:

• Small businesses totaled 241,316 in Arkansas in 2008. Of these, 51,035 were employers and they accounted for 48.6% of private sector jobs in the state. Small firms made up 96.8% of the state’s employers.

• Arkansas’s real gross state product increased by 0.7% and private-sector employment decreased by 4.2% in 2009. By comparison, real GDP in the United States grew 0.7% and private sector employment declined by 5.5%.

• Business ownership is becoming more inclusive in the state. The number of both women and minority business owners has grown. In particular, minority-owned businesses numbered 23,622 in 2007, an increase of 56.3% over 2002.