NEWSRELEASE
SBA Number: 01-06 ADVO
Contact: Ying Lowrey (202) 205-6947
For Release: May 22, 2001
WASHINGTON – The Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), welcomed the release today of the latest Census Bureau data showing sharp increases from 1992 to 1997 in businesses, most of them small, owned by Asians and Pacific Islanders and by American Indians and Alaska Natives. According to the data, there were 913,000 Asian- and Pacific Islander-owned businesses in 1997, and 197,300 firms owned by American Indians and Alaska Natives.
"These data, along with recently released Census numbers on firms owned by African-Americans and Hispanics, show that the number of firms owned by each minority group, as well as by women, grew much more rapidly than the overall total," said Acting Chief Counsel for Advocacy Susan M. Walthall. "The Office of Advocacy expects to use the data in a variety of reports on small business by state, industry, and demographic group."
Today’s release from the Census Bureau’s 1997 Survey of Minority-Owned Business Enterprises (SMOBE) complements the release on March 22 of reports on African-American- and Hispanic-owned businesses and the April release of the 1997 Survey of Women-Owned Business Enterprises (SWOBE).
The data for the first time included C corporations, making the totals more comprehensive than those collected in the last economic census, in 1992. The Census Bureau estimates that, excluding C corporations, the number of Asian- and Pacific Islander-owned businesses rose 30 percent, and their total receipts climbed by 68 percent. The number of American Indian- and Alaska Native-owned businesses rose 84 percent, and their receipts grew by 179 percent. In comparison, the total number of businesses other than C corporations was up 7 percent, and total receipts of these firms were up 40 percent.
Small businesses predominated among both sets of owners. Two-thirds of Asian- and Pacific-Islander-owned firms and five out of six American Indian- and Alaska Native-owned firms had no paid employees. Among Asian- and Pacific Islander-owned firms, 28 percent had receipts of less than $10,000; among American Indian- and Alaska Native-owned firms, 41 percent.
Recent Advocacy-produced or funded research in this area includes The Role of Race and Gender in Business Survival; Business Success: Factors Leading to Surviving and Closing Successfully; and Analyses of Business Dissolution by Demographic Category of Business Ownership.
More information, including sign-up information for receiving Advocacy news releases via e-mail (listserv), can be found on the Office of Advocacy website, www.sba.gov/advo. Census Bureau information about the SMOBE and SWOBE are at http://www.census.gov/csd/mwb/. Technical questions may be addressed to Dr. Ying Lowrey, Senior Economist, Office of Advocacy at (202) 205-6947, by e-mail at ying.lowrey@sba.gov or by mail to the Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 Third Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20416, telephone (202) 205-6973, fax (202) 205-6928.
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The SBA’s Office of Advocacy was created by an act of Congress in 1976 to protect, strengthen, and effectively represent the nation’s small businesses within the federal government. As part of this mandate, the office conducts policy studies and economic research on issues of concern to small business and publishes data on small business characteristics and contributions. For instant access to small business resources, statistics, and research, visit the Office of Advocacy’s home page at http://www.sba.gov/advo/.