SBA profile sheds light on state's small businesses

For the 16th year, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy has published small-business profiles for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.

Missouri’s profile uses the latest data available to share details on small-business employment, business starts and closings, lending and minority ownership, according to a Jan. 26 news release from SBA.

Among the highlights in Missouri’s profile:

• In 2009, there were 490,763 small businesses in Missouri, and of those, 115,688 were employers, accounting for 48.1 percent of private sector jobs statewide. Data also show 97.6 percent of Missouri’s employers are small firms.
• Throughout 2010, the number of new small businesses to open was less than the number of small businesses that closed, resulting in a negative net employment change.
• Missouri’s real gross state product decreased 0.7 percent in 2010, and private-sector employment fell 1.6 percent percent during that year. By comparison, real gross domestic product in the U.S. decreased 1.3 percent, and private-sector employment declined by 0.8 percent.
• In the last decade, self-employment in Missouri has declined, but the drop had less impact on minorities who were self-employed than on other demographic groups.

“Small businesses are the foundation of economic growth in Missouri and in our nation,” said Winslow Sargeant, chief counsel for advocacy, in the release. “By supporting policies that promote innovation and entrepreneurship, we help small businesses tackle these challenging economic times. These statistics are a resource for a path to economic growth.”[[In-content Ad]]