Skip to main content design--angle-right
See Apprenticeship Opportunities in Oklahoma Learn More
Oklahoma Works - A Proud Partner of the American Job Center Network
design--hamburger

Oklahoma Works Celebrates National Small Business Week

Oklahoma Works is proud to celebrate National Small Business Week, April 29-May 5, 2018.

Thousands of Oklahoma small businesses provide jobs and opportunities for tens of thousands of Oklahomans.

The Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development encourages local areas to have their own celebrations recognizing the powerful impact small businesses have on Oklahoma’s economy.

For more information about small business in Oklahoma visit the Oklahoma Small Business Development Center.

CRITICAL TO THE ECONOMY: Small businesses are responsible for a significant portion of U.S. economic activity and are vital asset to the economy.

  • There are nearly 30 million small business in the United States employing over 57 million people, according to the Small Business Administration (SBA).
    • A 2012 study found that small businesses produce nearly half of private non-farm gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States.
    • Small businesses, defined as firms employing fewer than 500 employees, play a huge role in the U.S. economy.
    • Small businesses comprise over 99 percent of all firms with paid employees in the country.
    • Over 97 percent of all trade activity comes from small businesses, generating one-third of the United States $1.4 trillion in total known exports.
    • Small businesses employ 48 percent of private sector employees and represent 41.2 percent of private sector payroll.
    • Small business is diverse, representing 8 million minority-owned businesses.
  • Small businesses are an engine for job creation.
    • Historically, small businesses are responsible for two out of every three net new jobs created in America.
    • Over half a million new small business are launched each year in the United States, creating more than 2.5 million new jobs per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Small businesses are diverse, representing millions of women and minority-owned businesses.
    • According to the SBA, there were 9.9 million women-owned business as of 2012, including 4 million firms owned by Latinas and African American women.
    • Almost 99.9 percent of women-owned business are small businesses.
    • Women-owned small businesses employ 7.3 million employees across the Nation.
    • Small business represents 8 million minority-owned businesses.
    • The number of minority-owned businesses is growing faster than non-minority owned businesses, with minority-owned firms generating nearly $1.4 trillion in annual economic output.
,/g>