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Alaska small business profile
Number of Businesses
There were an estimated 63,497 small businesses in Alaska in 2004. Of the 16,975 firms with employees, an estimated 96.9 percent, or 16,443, were small firms. In 2004, the estimated number of employer businesses increased by 0.9 percent. The number of self-employed persons (including incorporated) decreased overall by 2.0 percent, from 43,406 in 2003 to 42,533 in 2004. Non-employer businesses numbered 47,054 in 2002, an increase of 0.9 percent since 2001, based on the most recent data available.
(Sources: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employment and Training Administration; U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau; U.S. Dept of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.)
Women-Owned Businesses
In 2002 women-owned firms totaled 16,315, a decrease of 2 percent from 1997, and generated $2.4 billion in revenues. Firms owned jointly by women and men numbered 10,427 with revenues of $2.8 billion. Women represented 36.8 percent of the self-employed persons in the state.
(Sources: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.)
Minority-Owned Businesses
In 2002, Hispanic-owned firms numbered 1,241, a decrease of 10 percent from 1997. Black-owned firms numbered 927, an increase of 6 percent; Asian-owned firms numbered 1,909, an increase of 15 percent; American Indian and Alaska Native-owned firms numbered 5,019, a decrease of 26 percent; and there were 157 Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander-owned businesses.
(Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.)
Business Turnover
There were an estimated 1,848 new employer businesses in 2004, 24.3 percent less than the previous year. Business terminations numbered 2,650 in 2004, an increase of 5.7 percent. Business bankruptcies decreased by 47.1 percent and totaled 64 in 2004.
(Sources: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employment and Training Administration; Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts; U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.)
Employment
Small firms with fewer than 500 employees numbered 15,485 in 2002 and employed 127,757 individuals, or 59.8 percent of the state’s non-farm private sector. Net job gains among firms with fewer than 20 employees totaled 3,660, while large firms with 500 or more employees lost 3,940 jobs between 2001 and 2002.
(Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau, Statistics of U.S. Businesses.)
Small Business Income
Non-farm proprietors’ income, a partial measure of small business income, increased by 5.8 percent, from $2.2 billion in 2002 to $2.3 billion in 2003.
(Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce.)
Finance
Commercial bank lenders are an important source of small business loans, and small firms usually rely on them for financing. Over the last 10 years the number of banks in Alaska has declined. The Office of Advocacy has identified banks in each state that make the most loans to small businesses. This information is available in its banking studies at http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/lending.html.
