The Office of Advocacy today released the annual Small Business Profiles for the States and Territories. This is the 16th year Advocacy has published a 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 Georgia 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 Georgia 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 Georgia’s small business profile:

• There were 902,694 small businesses in Georgia in 2009. Of these, 167,864 were employers and they accounted for 45 percent of private sector jobs in the state. Small firms made up 97.7 percent of the state’s employers.
• Throughout 2010, the number of opening establishments was lower than closing establishments and the net employment change from this turnover was negative.
• Georgia’s real gross state product decreased 1.6 percent and private-sector employment decreased 1.4 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 Georgia surged over the last decade. Veteran self-employment fared the best compared with other demographic groups during the decade.