Native American/American Indian small businesses significantly out- performed all small businesses between 2007 and 2010. During the four year time period, Native American/American Indian business revenue grew by 78% and employment grew by 27%.
In comparison, among all small businesses, revenue grew by 39% and employment increased by 11% on average.
Across industries, revenue in internet publishing, ISP and telecom was the fastest growing (238%), while computer and electronic manufacturing was the second fastest (173%).
Mission of the Gazelle Index
The Gazelle Index’s mission is to provide timely information that helps improve the performance of minority and small businesses. Consistent with that mission, this post focuses on the performance of Native American/American Indian businesses between 2007 and 2010; a period that encompassed the recession and first year of the recovery.
Very little timely information is available on minority-owned businesses, even though they are the fastest growing segments of American small businesses. Some information is available on Blacks and Latinos, but almost none on Native Americans/American Indians, Asian Pacific Americans and Asian Indian Americans. The Gazelle Index is committed to closing this information gap!
Results for Native American/American Indian Business Performance, 2007 – 2010
Our results are based on a sample of all Native American/American small business federal contractors for which two year observations were available, 2007 and 2010. The sample included 493 contractors. The information below is taken from the four tables at the end of this post. EuQuant, which powers the Gazelle Index, provided the analytics on the data.
The largest industry concentration is construction of buildings; 33.6%
- The second-largest industry concentration is professional, scientific/technical services; 22.1%
- The third largest concentration is primary metal and machinery manufacturing; 14.8%
- The average revenue in 2010 was $7,787,281
- The highest revenue was in Internet publishing and telecommunications; $17,337,063
- The second highest average revenue was computer and electronic manufacturing; $14,279,882
- Internet publishing and telecommunications also had the fastest revenue growth and employment growth 238% and 63% respectively.
- Primary Metal and Machinery Manufacturing had the slowest revenue growth, 24%
- Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction had the slowest employment growth; -19%
Growing Importance of Minority-Owned Businesses
Minority businesses now comprise 21% of all small businesses and employ about 5% of the total workforce. Between 1982 — 2007, businesses owned by African Americans increased from 308,260 to 1.9 million or by 523%. The growth in the number of Asian-American businesses was slightly greater than was the growth of African American-owned businesses; they increased from 241,806 to 1.6 million or by 545%. Hispanics and Latinos businesses grew fastest among all minority groups (with the exception of Native Americans) – from 284,011 in 1982 to 2.3 million in 2007, or by 696%. Woman-owned businesses also increased significantly, but lagged behind the increase in minority-owned businesses; they grew from 2.6 million to 7.8 million or by 198%.
Understanding the Racial Classifications used by the Government
We start our investigation by explaining the racial classifications used by the U.S. government. They are as follows:
Asian Indian American (sometimes referred to as Subcontinent Asian Americans) – A U.S. citizen whose origins are from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
Asian and Pacific American (sometimes referred to as Asian and Pacific Islanders) – A U.S. citizen whose origins are from Japan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand, Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Trust Territories of the Pacific or the Northern Marianas
Black American (also African Americans) – A U.S. citizen having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa
Latino/Hispanic American– A U.S. citizen of Hispanic heritage from any of the Spanish-speaking areas of Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean Basin only
Native American/American Indian – Group of native people who are indigenous to the continental United States; American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut or Native Hawaiian, and regarded as such by the community of which the person claims to be a part.
