WASHINGTON, D.C. –America’s veterans own 9 percent of all U.S. firms, according to an Advocacy report, Veteran-owned Businesses and their Owners—Data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners, released today. The report analyzes data for 2007, the most recent release from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners (SBO). It finds that more than 90 percent of veteran-owned businesses are small firms with fewer than 20 employees. The study estimates the number of veteran-owned businesses at 2.45 million, employing 5.79 million workers, with sales and receipts of $1.22 trillion.
“America’s veterans are entrepreneurial and highly motivated to create new economic ventures,” said Chief Counsel for Advocacy Winslow Sargeant. “We’re pleased to be able to provide this detailed analysis of veteran-owned businesses.”
Key findings of the study include the following:
- Of the total number of veteran-owned firms, nearly one-third were in just two industry groups: construction and professional, scientific, and technical services.
- As a percentage of businesses in each industry, finance and insurance had the largest veteran-owned share, at 13.2 percent, followed by transportation and warehousing; mining; construction; professional, scientific, and technical services; and manufacturing.
- By state, California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Georgia had the largest numbers of veteran-owned businesses. The top five states with the highest percentages of businesses owned by veterans were South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Alabama.
- Veteran business owners were predominantly age 55 and over (75.1 percent), reflecting the ages of veterans overall, and they tended to be better educated than other business owners.
- Of the veteran business owners who responded to the survey, 8.3 percent had service-connected disabilities.
- Veteran-owned employer businesses were somewhat more likely to offer benefits such as health insurance, contributions to retirement plans, profit sharing, and paid leave than firms overall.
Veteran-owned Businesses and their Owners—Data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners is on the Advocacy website: http://www.sba.gov/advocacy.