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Rhode Island small business profile
Rhode Island Small Business Profile - In Rhode Island, small businesses are vital to the financial well-being of the state’s economy. Their contribution is essential for economic growth since they make up almost all employer firms in the state. As entrepreneurs and innovators, small business owners represented a diverse group in 2004 and continued to keep the state’s economy productive. The Small Business Profile provides information on the performance of small businesses in the state using the most current federal data available. This Small Business Profile was prepared by the U.S. Small Business Administration and provides information on the performance of small businesses in the state using the most current federal data available.
Number of Businesses
There were an estimated 95,390 small businesses in Rhode Island in 2004. Of the 33,253 firms with employees, an estimated 96.5 percent, or 32,098, were small firms. In 2004, the estimated number of employer businesses increased by 2 percent. The number of self-employed persons (including incorporated) decreased overall by 2.6 percent, from 53,380 in 2003 to 52,004 in 2004. Non-employer businesses numbered 63,292 in 2002, an increase of 4.6 percent since 2001, based on the most recent data available.
(Sources: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employment and Training Administration; U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau; U.S. Dept of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.)
Women-Owned Businesses
In 2002 women-owned firms totaled 23,209, an increase of 17 percent from 1997, and generated $3.8 billion in revenues. Firms owned jointly by women and men numbered 8,229 with revenues of $2.6 billion. Women represented 31.4 percent of the self-employed persons in the state.
(Sources: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.)
Minority-Owned Businesses
In 2002, Hispanic-owned firms numbered 3,415, an increase of 56 percent from 1997. Black-owned firms numbered 1,766, an increase of 39 percent; Asian-owned firms numbered 1,552, an increase of 46 percent; American Indian and Alaska Native-owned firms numbered 446, a decrease of 29 percent; and the number of Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander-owned businesses was unavailable.
(Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.)
Business Turnover
There were an estimated 3,932 new employer businesses in 2004, 13.5 percent more than the previous year. Business terminations numbered 4,250 in 2004, an increase of 3.6 percent. Business bankruptcies increased by 54.2 percent and totaled 74 in 2004.
(Sources: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employment and Training Administration; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts; U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.)
Employment
Small firms with fewer than 500 employees numbered 24,584 in 2002 and employed 238,038 individuals, or 57.2 percent of the state’s non-farm private sector. Net job gains among firms with fewer than 20 employees totaled 2,714, while large firms with 500 or more employees created 7,501 jobs between 2001 and 2002.
(Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau, Statistics of U.S. Businesses.)
Small Business Income
Non-farm proprietors’ income, a partial measure of small business income, increased by 6.4 percent, from $2.2 billion in 2002 to $2.3 billion in 2003.
(Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce.)
Finance
Commercial bank lenders are an important source of small business loans, and small firms usually rely on them for financing. Over the last 10 years the number of banks in Rhode Island has declined. The Office of Advocacy has identified banks in each state that make the most loans to small businesses. This information is available in its banking studies at http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/lending.html.
