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Despite the discouraging predictions about the state of black economic future by of a group of scholars who met in DC recently, another new report says the forecast is looking sunny for black businesses.
“Of all the minority groups, African-American owned businesses posted the most gains in the early 2000s,” notes Credit Donkey. Among the facts the organization based this conclusion on:
- The 2007 U.S. Census found there were more than 1.9 million black-owned businesses in the U.S., which amounted to 7.1 percent of all the businesses in the country. “Compared to the previous collection of statistics, in 2002, these businesses experienced a 61 percent increase in number, while the national average increase was a mere nine percent,” says Credit Donkey, a comparison site that publishes credit card research.
- There was an increase in the number of black-owned businesses with one or more employees, a four percent increase over 2002.
- Black-owned firms hired a combined total of 921,000 workers, showing a 22 percent increase while the national increase was just 0.3 percent.
- African-American businesses are in sectors that are expected to see future growth, including healthcare/social service field, repair and maintenance/personal laundry services and administrative and support/waste management and remediation services.
- African-American businesses with employees grossed $99 billion in 2007. Those firms without employees earned $39 billion. This outpaced the rest of the country and showed a 55 percent increase over 2002 figures.
Are you patronizing black businesses? Seeing positive signs in the black business community?
