By Informer Staff

Small business firms make up nearly 97 percent of the state’s employers, according to the annual Small Business Profiles for the States and Territories by the Office of Advocacy. 

That tidbit is just one of many published as part of the 16th annual state-by-state profile of American small business for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. The profiles are an invaluable resource for small businesses, legislators, academics, government officials, and policymakers in each state.

The Kansas profile uses the most recent data available to provide details about the state’s small business employment; business starts and closings; bank lending; business ownership by minorities, women, and veterans; and firm and employment change by major industry and firm size.

“Small businesses are the foundation of economic growth in Kansas and in our nation,” said Dr. Winslow Sargeant, Chief Counsel for Advocacy. “By supporting policies that promote innovation and entrepreneurship, we help small businesses tackle these challenging economic times. These statistics are a resource for a path to economic growth.”

Here are some highlights from Kansas’s small business profile:

• There were 231,643 small businesses in Kansas in 2009. Of these, 57,697 were employers and they accounted for 52.7 percent of private sector jobs in the state. Small firms made up 96.7 percent of the state’s employers.

• Throughout 2010, the number of opening establishments was lower than closing establishments, but the net employment change from this turnover was positive.

• Kansas real gross state product decreased 0.8 percent and private-sector employment decreased 1.9 percent percent in 2010. By comparison, real GDP in the United States decreased 1.3 percent and private sector employment declined by 0.8 percent.

• Self-employment in Kansas declined over the last decade. Minority self-employment fared the best compared with other demographic groups during the decade.

State profiles from previous years are available at http://archive.sba.gov/advo/research/profiles; these provide a historical perspective of each state economy. 

For more information and a complete copy of the current state and territory small business profiles, visit the Office of Advocacy website at http://www.sba.gov/advocacy/848/41391.