Why Support Microenterprise Development?

According to the U.S. Census Microenterprises account for fully 88% of all businesses in NYS and employ approximately 20% of the state’s workforce.  Sole proprietorships (a business with one owner) account for 72% of all businesses in NYS and have had an average annual growth rate of 3.36% between 1997 and 2003 (equates to an average of 45,000 new businesses per year).  There are currently 1.6 million microenterprises operating in New York generating approximately $58 billion in revenues annually.  Microenterprise development should be viewed as an economic development priority not an afterthought. The emphasis of New York’s economic development policy is on attracting and retaining large businesses while small business development gets only a fraction of the resources.  Empire State Development Corporations Annual Report to the Legislature (2000) on the state funded microenterprise development program (EAP) suggested the following: 

• State funded programs conservatively generate $2 in tax revenue for every state dollar invested in the program;
• Program costs the state only $1,585 per job created (Compared to the Jobs Now Program which averages $10,000 per job and the Job Development Authority that averages $35,000 per job);
• Programs should be expanded to areas of the state that currently lack coverage and grants to these training organizations should increase to maximize federal matching dollars.

MicroBizNY Supports: