Veterans tend to be better educated before starting or acquiring their businesses and older than other business owners, according to new reports released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

     Characteristics of Veteran-Owned Businesses: 2002 [PDF] and Characteristics of Veteran Business Owners: 2002 [PDF] show veteran business owners comprised about 3 million or 14.5 percent of the estimated 20.5 million owners of all firms that responded to the 2002 Survey of Business Owners (SBO).

     The first-ever reports examining veterans in business show that prior to establishing, purchasing or acquiring their firms, veteran owners were somewhat better educated compared to other business owners. In 2002, veterans were about as likely to have either bachelor or postgraduate degrees as all owners of respondent business firms (40.7 percent vs. 40.1 percent). But they were more likely to have postgraduate degrees (19.2 percent vs. 17.3 percent) and less likely not to have graduated high school (4.3 percent vs. 6 percent).

     Sixty-eight percent of veteran owners were age 55 or over, and 32 percent were 65 or older. By contrast, among all business owners of firms completing the survey, 31 percent were 55 or older.

     Otherwise, businesses owned by veterans tended to be virtually identical to all respondent businesses in receipts and employment size of firm. (Figure 1 [PDF] shows the distribution by receipts size category; Figure 2 [PDF] by employment size category.) Moreover, the largest percent of shares of veteran-owned and all respondent businesses (totaling about 60 percent of the businesses in each group) were concentrated in the same five business sectors: professional, scientific, and technical services; construction; other services; retail trade; and real estate and rental and leasing. (See Figure 3 [PDF] on the distribution of firms by kind of business.)

     Other highlights:

• Nearly 7 percent of veteran business owners of respondent firms were disabled from injuries or illnesses incurred during active military service.
• About 55 percent of veteran-owned employer respondent firms reported having been originally established, purchased or acquired before 1990, compared with 36 percent of all employer firms responding to the survey.
• More than half (51.8 percent) of the veteran-owned respondent businesses were home-based compared with 49.4 percent of all respondent businesses.
• The percentage of veteran-owned firms with owners that relied on personal or family assets for capital to start or acquire their businesses was nearly identical to the percentage of all respondent businesses (63.9 percent vs. 63.6 percent). Percentages of businesses originally financed by banks or outside investors were also nearly identical for respondent veteran-owned businesses and all respondent businesses (14.2 percent vs.14.8 percent), as were the percentages financed directly by government loans or government-guaranteed loans (1.3 percent vs. 1.6 percent).

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