SBA Hot Topic Tuesday — Celebrating America’s Main Street

May 1, 2018

By Bob Coleman
Editor, SBA Hot Topic Tuesday

SBA Hot Topic Tuesday — Celebrating America’s Main Street

National Small Business Week is a good time to review the basics of the oversized role small business plays in the American economy.

I love stats, so here are the latest stats about America’s Main Street:

  • Small businesses are responsible for two out of every three net new jobs created
  • There are nearly 30 million small businesses
  • Small businesses employ over 57 million people
  • Small businesses produce nearly half of GDP
  • Small businesses comprise over 99 percent of all firms with paid employees
  • Over 97 percent of all trade activity comes from small businesses, generating one-third of the United States $1.4 trillion in total known exports
  • Small businesses employ 47 percent of private sector employees and represent 42 percent of private sector payroll
  • Over half a million new small business are launched each year creating more than 2.5 million new jobs per year
  • There are 9.9 million women-owned business, including 4 million firms owned by Latinas and African American women
  • Almost 99.9 percent of women-owned owned business are small businesses
  • The number of minority-owned businesses is growing faster than non-minority owned businesses, with minority-owned firms generating nearly $1.4 trillion in annual economic output.