​WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The first “State of Diverse Small Businesses in California” report details the statewide impact of minority-owned small business, noting that, annually, they contribute $192.8 billion in economic output – more than the annual GDP of 18 US States, generate $28.7 million in tax revenue, and support 2.56 million jobs.

SACRAMENTO, CA (October 10, 2023) – The California Office of the Small Business Advocate (CalOSBA) recently released a research report, led by the state’s leading minority chambers and produced by Beacon Economics, that was California’s first on the economic, fiscal, and social impact of diverse firms across the state.

Samuel Maury-Holmes, Practice Lead at Beacon Economics, is presenting the findings this week to the “Investing in Small Businesses Owned by People of Color” working session at the 2023 California Economic Summit hosted by CA FWD in Indian Wells.

Part of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), CalOSBA commissioned this report as part of their efforts to continue embedding equity analysis and considerations in their mission, policies, and practices.

“The Governor’s Office has long acknowledged that diverse small businesses power California’s economy, generating billions in economic activity and significant tax revenues for California. But we couldn’t sufficiently quantify their activities, performance, or impact,” said CalOSBA Director Tara Lynn Gray. “This report speaks to that need and signifies the Governor’s commitment to a more inclusive understanding of our economy and the findings will help our office and our partners to better support the Governor’s vision of a California for All. This data will also help local small business communities better advocate for their needs.”

The report studied businesses from four racial/ethnic groups: Asians, Hispanics, Black/African-Americans, and Native Americans. Key findings from the report, which reference Census data sources from 2019 (the most recent data year for which all individual data points used in this report were available as of publication), include:

• Minority small businesses contribute nearly $193 billion in economic output per year, which is greater than the annual GDP of 18 U.S. states.
• Minority small businesses in California generate $28.7 billion in tax revenue each year.
• Minority small businesses support 2.56 million jobs annually across California.
• The business sector with the highest concentration of small minority firms (defined as employing 20 employees or less) is the Trade, Transport and Utilities sector with over 300,000 minority firms (wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, utilities).

Last fall, CalOSBA called upon the state’s largest minority chambers — the California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce worked as project lead along with the California African-American Chamber of Commerce and the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce- — to lead the project including selecting a research lead and a roster of community-based partners to collect data from California’s diverse business communities. This new analysis will help both CalOSBA and private organizations better target supportive government policies and investments for minority firms and entrepreneurs, as well as raise the visibility of their contributions towards job creation, tax revenues, and healthy communities to policymakers in the public and private sectors.

“This level of detailed data is critical to our effort to effectively promote economic development policy that serves the needs of these businesses on the statewide and local levels. Stakeholders around the state can now plainly see the priority of serving these small business-owners,” said Pat Fong Kushida, President and CEO of the California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce.

“The lack of data has put minority and underserved businesses at a consistent disadvantage. This detailed snapshot of California’s diverse small businesses is intended to change this,” said Ahmad Holmes, Chief Operating Officer for the California African American Chamber of Commerce.

“The pervasive lack of economic performance data further isolates minority-owned employers from the types of high-impact support and financial assistance they need to fully recover from the pandemic or weather the next disaster,” said Julian Canete, President and CEO of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.

In addition to the quantitative analysis provided by Beacon, advocacy group Small Business Majority supported the qualitative data collection process through collaboration with some 38 community organizations.

“Small Business Majority was proud to partner with CalOSBA, leading state chambers of commerce, and diverse small business organizations across California to field and share data essential to making sure the voices of BIPOC entrepreneurs are heard,” said Josaline Cuesta, California Program Director for Small Business Majority.

Months of extensive data gathering and analysis this past winter and spring by Beacon Economics and its research partners resulted in a detailed, 112-page economic report on the make-up and contributions of diverse small firms in California.

To access the Executive Summary and full report, please visit https://calosba.ca.gov/about/publications/