Highlights from State of Mississippi Minority Business Profile

• In 2002, there were nearly 30,000 minority firms in Mississippi, generating over $2.8 billion in gross receipts.
• These firms also employed over 22,500 workers.
• Minority firms represented 16% of all ‘classifiable’ firms located in the state.
• The number of minority firms in Mississippi increased by 35% between 1997 and 2002, compared to 11% for all ‘classifiable’ firms in the state.
• Mississippi had the 22nd largest minority population in the country, numbering 1.1 million or 40% of the state’s total population.
• In Mississippi, Asians reached parity in number of firms and total gross receipts. Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders also reached parity in number of firms. No other group achieved this level of representation compared to their population share.
• If minority business activity in Mississippi matched the state’s minority population percentage in 2002, the number of minority firms in the state would have exceeded 72,000 and they would have generated over $25 billion in gross receipts and employed more than 181,000 workers.
• While smaller in number, minority-owned Strategic Growth Initiative (SGI) firms with receipts of $500,000 or more generate a larger percentage of the group’s revenues and paid employment than firms with receipts under $500,000.
• In 2002, minority-owned firms with receipts of $500,000 or more generated about 61% of all receipts grossed by all minority firms in Mississippi and employed 61% of all paid workers employed by all minority firms in that state.
• Minority-owned firms in Mississippi were also more concentrated in the following industries: other services; health care and social assistance; and retail trade.

Highlights from Gulfport, Biloxi, Pascagoula Cities Business Profile

• In 2002, there were over 3,700 minority firms in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, Mississippi – Combined Statistical Area (CSA).
• Minority firms employed between 2,500 and 4,999 paid employees in this CSA (h = 2,500 to 4,999 employees.).
• Minority firms represented 13 percent of all U.S. firms located in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS - CSA in 2002.
• The Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS – CSA included the counties of George, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, and Stone.
• In 2002, minority-owned firms in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS - CSA were more concentrated in the following industries: other services; health care and social assistance; and retail trade.
• There were about 660 minority firms in other services, nearly 650 minority firms in health care and social assistance, and over 460 in retail trade.