Highlights from State of Alabama Minority Business Profile

• In 2002, there were over 38,000 minority firms in Alabama, generating more than $4.3 billion in gross receipts.
• These firms also employed over 42,000 workers.
• Minority firms represented 12.6% of all ‘classifiable’ firms located in the state.
• The number of minority firms in Alabama increased by 35% between 1997 and 2002, compared to 8% for all ‘classifiable’ firms in the state.
• Alabama had the 17th largest minority population in the country, numbering 1.3 million or 30% of the state’s total population in 2002.
• In Alabama, only Asian Americans have reached parity in their number of firms and annual gross receipts when compared to their representation in the state’s population.
• American Indians and Alaska Natives also reached parity in their number of firms. No other minority group has reached parity in the number of firms and gross receipts.
• If minority business activity in Alabama matched the state’s minority population percentage in 2002, the number of minority firms in the state would have exceeded 91,000 and they would have generated over $35 billion in gross receipts and employed more than 245,000 workers.

Highlights from City of Birmingham Business Profile

• In 2002, there were nearly 9,590 minority firms in the Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, Alabama - Combined Statistical Area (CSA).
• Minority firms generated over $1.1 billion in annual gross receipts and employed over 11,730 workers.
• Minority firms represented 11.5 percent of all U.S. firms located in the Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL - CSA.
• The Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, AL - CSA includes Bibb, Blount, Chilton, Cullman, Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby, and Walker Counties.
• Total annual gross receipts generated by minority-owned firms in Birmingham, AL increased by 11% between 1997 and 2002, compared to 17% for all U.S. firms in the city during the same period.
• African American-owned firms experienced a large growth in gross receipts (23%), from 1997 to 2002.
• The number of Asian, and Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander-owned firms increased by 39% during the same period.
• Birmingham is in Jefferson and Shelby counties.

Highlights from City of Mobile Business Profile

• In 2002, there were over 4,250 minority firms in the Mobile, Alabama – Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
• Minority firms generated over $343 million in annual gross receipts and employed over 3,000 workers.
• Minority firms represented 15 percent of all U.S. firms located in the Mobile, AL - MSA in 2002.
• 2002 Statistics for the Mobile, AL – MSA include Mobile County.
• The number of minority firms in Mobile and Baldwin counties increased by 26% between 1997 and 2002, compared to 12% for all U.S. firms during the same period.
• African American-owned firms experienced a large growth in number of firms (27%) and annual gross receipts (105%), from 1997 to 2002.
• The number of Asian, Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islanders-owned firms increased by 37%, and their gross receipts by 31% during the same period.