Study: Small businesses created 91% of net new jobs over past 20 years

Locally owned small businesses have created nearly all of the new net jobs over the past two decades in the eight-state region served by the Delta Regional Authority, which includes East Baton Rouge Parish and most of Louisiana. That’s according to a new study from the economic development group representing 252 counties and parishes in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. DRA says the study’s findings underscore the importance of supporting entrepreneurship and small business development in the region. Specifically, the study found that approximately 91% of the new net jobs in the region over the past 20 years have been created by local businesses with nine or fewer employees. The other roughly 9% of net job gains came from companies with 10 to 99 employees, the study says. “Larger establishments with 100 or more employees eliminated over 216,000 jobs since 1992,” in the region, it says. In response to the findings, the DRA says it “will partner with key economic, business, civic and political leaders to invest in infrastructure that systematically increases and supports entrepreneurs and the small business environment.” Charlie D’Agostino, executive director of the LSU Innovation Park and the Louisiana Business & Technology Center, says the jobs created at the Baton Rouge incubator are reflective of the study’s findings. “The proof is in the pudding, with our incubator graduating 140 tenants and creating 2,278 jobs since 1989. This work means something simple: a brighter future for our people and our economy,” D’Agostino says. You can check out the complete study here.