California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

According to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, a leading indicator
of new-business creation in the United States, the number of new businesses created
during the 2007–2009 recession years increased steadily year to year. The growth
in 2009 represented a 4 percent increase over 2008, or 27,000 more starts per month
than in 2008 and 60,000 more starts per month than in 2007.

Entrepreneurship rates by race show that African-Americans experienced the largest
increase in entrepreneurial activity between 2008 and 2009. Rising from 0.22 percent
in 2008 to 0.27 percent in 2009, the rate was the highest over the 14 years of reported
data but remains below other racial groups. In contrast, both Latinos and Asians
experienced declines in entrepreneurial activity rates. Entrepreneurship growth was
highest among 35- to 44-year-olds, rising from 0.35 in 2008 to 0.40 in 2009. The
oldest age group in the study (55-64 years) also experienced a large increase in
business-creation rates from 2008 to 2009,

The following identifies the Best and Worst states for Entrepreneurial Activity based
upon number of people creating companies per 100,000.

BEST                                                  WORST

1. Montana           470                           1.  Mississippi       170   
1. Oklahoma                                         2.  Nebraska          200
3  Arizona            460                           2.  Pennsylvania  
4. Idaho               450                           4.  Alabama            210
4. Texas                                              5.  Minnesota          220   
6. Florida             440                           6.  Iowa                  230
6. Georgia                                            6.  Kansas
7. Louisiana         430                           6.  South Carolina
8. South Dakota                                   9.  Illinois               240
10.California        410                         9.  Rhode Island 
                                                           9.  Washington

Rankings of the 15 largest Metropolitan Areas in the Nation

1. Houston
2. Miami
3. Atlanta
4. Phoenix
5. San Francisco-Oakland
6. Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Ana
7. New York, North New Jersey
8. Detroit
9. San Bernardino, Riverside
10. Dallas
11. Washington DC
12. Chicago
13. Boston-Cambridge
14. Philadelphia
15. Seattle, Tacoma

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.

To view the report go to the following link:
http://www.kauffman.org/uploadedfiles/kiea_2010_report.pdf
The report is completed by Robert Fairlie, Professor of Economics at the University of
California, Santa Cruz.

Also see 07-31-09 Minute, Best Cities for Business Start-Ups
and assortment of posts on entreprenuership at the www.CalBizBlog.com