The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy state small business profiles show detail about the makeup of each state’s small businesses and the country as a whole.  Small firms are a critical part of each state’s economy, as they comprise anywhere from 92.7% to 99.2% of a state’s businesses and from 42.8% to 69.3% of each state’s  employment.  In Kentucky, small businesses comprise 96.7% of all businesses and 49.2% of private sector jobs.

These profiles give a snapshot of business ownership, demographics, industry breakout of firms and employment, employment turnover and lending.  Standardized profiles are presented for the U.S. as a whole, the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states.  Limited information is also available for four U.S. territories.

The profiles are at www.sba.gov/advocacy/848.  The Kentucky link is www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/files/ky10.pdf.  

In addition to informative one-pagers on all states, including Kentucky, the raw data file is also online, which makes state-by-state comparisons possible.  This year’s profiles also show changes in ownership by women and minorities.