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FIU Releases 2018 Miami-Dade County Small Business Report
MIAMI, FL (May 14, 2018) – A new study from Florida International University's College of Business (FIU Business) reveals the significant impact that small businesses have on Miami-Dade County's economy.
According to the report, more than 82,000 small businesses employ 53.3% of the county's workforce. This is contrary to the rest of the country, where large companies employ the majority of workers.
The report, produced by the FIU Metropolitan Center and commissioned by the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at FIU Business, also found Miami-Dade County has a high concentration of microbusinesses, which are companies with fewer than 10 employees. Of six comparison counties studied, Miami-Dade had the highest percentage of microbusinesses, representing 81.3 percent of all businesses in the county.
The study, which provides an in-depth look at Miami-Dade County's small-business establishments, breaks out small businesses by number of employees and by industries. It also looks at wages paid by small businesses. The average annual wage was $44,803 at a one-employee firm in Miami-Dade and $43,437 in a firm with 2 to 9 employees.
However, the average wages were not typical wages. When looking at the aggregate median wages - a listing of the average wages paid by firms based on company size — half the one-employee companies paid an average wage of $24,000 or less. For businesses with 2 to 9 employees, half the companies had average wages of $30,667 or less.
While the region is adding new businesses at a rapid rate, those companies are not necessarily producing jobs. The report shows that between 2005 and 2015, the number of non-employer establishments in the Miami area rose 55.9 percent, almost three times the national rate.
"Not all entrepreneurship and not all small businesses contribute to the economy equally," says Jacqueline Bueno Sousa, regional director of the Florida SBDC at FIU Business. "This study helps us understand which small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures are having the biggest positive impact."
Florida SBDC at FIU Business is the small business development center at the FIU College of Business. The center works with more than 900 entrepreneurs and business owners each year to help them grow. A copy of Small Business. Big Impact: Report on Small Businesses in Miami-Dade County 2018 is available from the Florida SBDC at FIU Business. For more information, visit sbdc.fiu.edu or call 305-779-9230.
