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Arkansas small business profile
Arkansas Small Business Profile - In Arkansas, 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 222,542 small businesses in Arkansas in 2004. Of the 61,778 firms with employees, an estimated 97.1 percent, or 60,007, were small firms. In 2004, the estimated number of employer businesses increased by 2.3 percent. The number of self-employed persons (including incorporated) increased overall by 8.6 percent, from 149,093 in 2003 to 161,842 in 2004. Non-employer businesses numbered 162,535 in 2002, an increase of 3.7 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 49,647, an increase of 17 percent from 1997, and generated $6.4 billion in revenues. Firms owned jointly by women and men numbered 33,632 with revenues of $7.5 billion. Women represented 27.7 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 2,095, a decrease of 19 percent from 1997. Black-owned firms numbered 8,944, an increase of 33 percent; Asian-owned firms numbered 2,057, an increase of 37 percent; American Indian and Alaska Native-owned firms numbered 2,283, a decrease of 1 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 7,852 new employer businesses in 2004, 8.3 percent more than the previous year. Business terminations numbered 6,481 in 2004, a decrease of 6.3 percent. Business bankruptcies decreased by 12.4 percent and totaled 376 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 50,601 in 2002 and employed 475,672 individuals, or 48.8 percent of the state’s non-farm private sector. Net job gains among firms with fewer than 20 employees totaled 6,786, while large firms with 500 or more employees lost 21,470 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 12.2 percent, from $5.2 billion in 2002 to $5.9 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 Arkansas 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.
