Small Business Profile: DELAWARE 

Small businesses are the heart of Delaware’s economy. Research by the Office of Advocacy shows that small businesses create most of the nation’s net new jobs, and they bring dynamic ideas, innovative services, and new products to the marketplace. They account for almost all of the nation’s employer firms and generate half of non-farm private output. New business creation is key to a state’s ability to increase its gross state product, state personal income, and total state employment. This small business profile uses the most recent data available to demonstrate the valuable contributions that small businesses make to Delaware’s economic health.

Number of Businesses.  Delaware had an estimated total of 76,300 small businesses. Employer firms totaled 26,100 in 2006, up 1.3 percent from the previous year. Of this total, an estimated 93.3 percent, or 24,300 were small. Self-employment (incorporated and unincorporated) totaled 37,100 in 2006, a decrease from 37,400 in 2005. Non-employer firms totaled 52,300 in 2005, an increase of 5.7 percent since 2004. (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 Firms. In 2002, businesses owned by women numbered 15,300, represented 24.0 percent of the state’s 63,600 businesses, and generated $2.0 billion in revenues. Employer firms owned by women totaled 2,900, an increase of 7.5 percent since 1997. Women numbered 12,600 or 33.8 percent of the state’s self-employed persons in 2006, a decrease of 5.6 percent from the previous year. (Sources: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics; U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.)

Minority-owned Firms. In 2002, Asian-owned firms totaled 1,900, and 800 of them were employer firms; Black-owned firms numbered 4,300, and 400 were employer firms; Hispanic-owned firms totaled 900, and 100 were employer firms.  Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander-owned businesses totaled 20. Employer firm data for this group are unavailable. Data on the number of American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses are also unavailable. (Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.)

Business Turnover. An estimated 3,153 new employer firms were created in 2006, which is 4.4 percent less than the number created in 2005. Business bankruptcies totaled 244 in 2006, up from 218 the previous year, while business terminations decreased from 3,400 in 2005 to 3,300 in 2006. (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 employed 46.0 percent of the state’s non-farm private labor force in 2004, which was below the national average of 50.9 percent. These 19,600 firms accounted for 93.3 percent of the state’s employer businesses, and they employed 180,000 people (Table 1). Small businesses added a total of 7,300 net new jobs between 2003 and 2004 (Table 2). (Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau, Statistics of U.S. Businesses.)

Small Business Income. Non-farm proprietors’ income, which is a share of small business income, increased by 4.2 percent, from $2.4 billion in 2005 to $2.5 billion in 2006. (Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce.)

Finance. Commercial banks and savings institutions continued to be important sources of small business financing. The number of lending institution branches in the state decreased in 2006 (Table 3). For a list of financial institutions in the state that make the most loans to small businesses, visit www.sba.gov/advo/research/lending.html.

To learn more about the Office of Advocacy’s data and analyses of small business, visit www.sba.gov/advo/research, call (202) 205-6533, or email advocacy@sba.gov.

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