SmallBizResource Blog -- Research

A Few Quick Facts About SMBs

Posted by Judy Mottl Tuesday, Nov 27, 2007, 07:12 AM ET

If you ever start doubting the impact that small business has in America all you need to do is check out the latest data from the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy.

The federal agency, which tracks data points on small business, offers up these quick points in its latest issue of The Small Business Advocate:

• In 2006, the nation had an estimated 26.8 million small businesses, of which 6.1 million were employer firms.

• Small businesses employed 50.9 percent of the nation’s nonfarm
private workforce in 2004.

• America had 1.1 million Asian-owned firms, 1.2 million Black-owned firms, 1.6 million Hispanic-owned firms, 201,400 Native American-owned firms, and 28,900 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander-owned firms in 2002.

• Women-owned firms totaled 6.5 million and generated $940.8
billion in revenues in 2002.

Small businesses have also:

Generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually in the last decade.

Employed 50.6 percent of the country’s private sector workforce.

Represented 97 percent of all the exporters of goods.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, June 2006

Research