Number of Minority-Owned Businesses Soars

The number of minority-owned businesses increased by 45.6 percent to 5.8 million between 2002 and 2007, more than twice the national rate of all U.S. businesses, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The number of American Indian/Alaska Native-owned businesses increased by 17.9 percent, totaling 237,386, while the number jumped by 60.5 percent for black-owned businesses and by 43.6 percent for Hispanic-owned businesses. The total number of U.S. businesses increased by 18.0 percent to 27.1 million.

In 2007, 30.5 percent of AI/AN-owned businesses were in construction, repair and maintenance and personal and laundry services.

AI/AN-owned businesses accounted for 10.0 percent of businesses in Alaska, 6.3 percent in Oklahoma and 5.3 percent in New Mexico.

Receipts of minority-owned businesses rose 55.6 percent to $1.0 trillion between 2002 and 2007, ranging from a high of 62.9 percent for Native Hawaiian- and Other Pacific Islander-owned businesses to 28.3 percent for AI/AN-owned businesses, which totaled $34.5 billion.

The data comes from the Preliminary Estimates of Business Ownership by Gender, Ethnicity, Race and Veteran Status: 2007, from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2007 Survey of Business Owners. The report is the first of 10 on the characteristics of minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses and their owners to be released over the next year.