Small Business Profile: OKLAHOMA 

Small businesses are the heart of Oklahoma’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 Oklahoma’s economic health.

Number of Businesses.  Oklahoma had an estimated total of 332,000 small businesses. Employer firms totaled 79,900 in 2006, up 3.0 percent from the previous year. Of this total, an estimated 97.5 percent, or 77,900 were small. Self-employment (incorporated and unincorporated) totaled 217,400 in 2006, a decrease from 230,500 in 2005. Non-employer firms totaled 256,400 in 2005, an increase of 3.2 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 75,000, represented 25.7 percent of the state’s 291,600 businesses, and generated $9.3 billion in revenues. Employer firms owned by women totaled 10,800, a decrease of 1.6 percent since 1997. Women numbered 72,700 or 33.4 percent of the state’s self-employed persons in 2006, a decrease of 14.7 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 4,600, and 1,500 of them were employer firms; Black-owned firms numbered 7,400, and 600 were employer firms; Hispanic-owned firms totaled 5,400, and 900 were employer firms. American Indian and Alaska Native-owned firms numbered 17,100, and 2,400 of them were employer firms; while Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander-owned businesses numbered 280, and 20 were employer firms. (Source: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau.)

Business Turnover. An estimated 9,962 new employer firms were created in 2006, which is 15.7 percent more than the number created in 2005. Business bankruptcies totaled 236 in 2006, down from 944 the previous year, while business terminations increased from 7,200 in 2005 to 7,800 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 54.9 percent of the state’s non-farm private labor force in 2004, which was above the national average of 50.9 percent. These 69,700 firms accounted for 97.5 percent of the state’s employer businesses, and they employed 656,000 people (Table 1). Small businesses added a total of 18,600 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 7.9 percent, from $15.2 billion in 2005 to $16.4 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 increased 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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