Office of Advocacy 
 A Voice for Small Business 

Small Business Profile: ALASKA
In Alaska, 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.

Number of Businesses. There were an estimated 63,497 small businesses in Alaska in 2004.1 Of the 16,975 firms with employees,
an estimated 96.9 percent, or 16,443, were small firms. In 2004, the estimated number of employer businesses increased by 0.9
percent. The number of self-employed persons (including incorporated) decreased overall by 2.0 percent, from 43,406 in 2003 
to 42,533 in 2004. Nonemployer businesses numbered 47,054 in 2002, an increase of 0.9 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 16,315, a decrease of 2 percent from 1997, and generated $2.4 
billion in revenues. Firms owned jointly by women and men numbered 10,427 with revenues of $2.8 billion. Women represented 
36.8 percent of the selfemployed 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 1,241,a decrease of 10 percent from 1997. Black-owned firms
numbered 927, an increase of 6 percent; Asian-owned firms numbered 1,909, an increase of 15 percent; American Indian and 
Alaska Native-owned firms numbered 5,019, a decrease of 26 percent; and there were 157 Native Hawaiian and other Pacific 
Islander-owned businesses.2 (Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.)

Business Turnover. There were an estimated 1,848 new employer businesses in2004, 24.3 percent less than the previous year. 
Business terminations numbered 2,650 in 2004, an increase of 5.7 percent. Business bankruptcies decreased by 47.1 percent 
and totaled 64 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 15,485 in 2002 and employed 127,757 individuals, or 59.8 
percent of the state’s non-farm private sector (Table 1).3 Net job gains among firms with fewer than 20 employees totaled 
3,660, while large firms with 500 or more employees lost 3,940 jobs between 2001 and 2002 (Table 2). (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 5.8 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 Alaska has declined (Table 3). 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 
www.sba.gov/advo/research/lending.html.

1.The Office of Advocacy’s estimate of the total number of state small businesses is based on the percent of small businesses
(2002 Census Bureau firm size data) multiplied by the total number of employer businesses in 2004 (Employment and Training 
Administration). To this total is added the 2002 number of non-employer firms (Census Bureau). See Business Estimates from 
the Office of Advocacy, www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs258tot.pdf.
2.Minority owners may be in more than one minority group.
3.The number of employers in Table 1 is not directly comparable to the figures in the Number of Businesses section due to 
different data sources.

To learn more about the Office of Advocacy’s data and analyses of small business, visit www.sba.gov/advo/research, call 
(202) 205-6533 or email advocacy@sba.gov.
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