2017 State of Small Business: Letter from Scott Daugherty, state director, Small Business and Technology Development Center.

• Author: Daugherty, Scott

Small Business is Big Business in North Carolina

Our state is truly a small business state. Over 97% of all businesses in North Carolina employ fewer than 500 people; nearly half employ fewer than 100. These firms, collectively, account for almost 50% of the private sector workforce and 45% of our gross state product.

Overall, small business is big business in our state. There are 850,000 small businesses in North Carolina. Of these, 170,000 have employees beyond the owner and family members. These "homegrown" companies create a significant number of net new jobs, generated 24% of our state's total export revenue, and account for the lion's share of innovation that drives our high tech growth. They also are strongly committed to and supportive of the communities where they live.

Continued Economic Expansion Feeds Small Business Optimism

Over the last several years, we have experienced very positive economic growth both at the national level and in North Carolina. This has been driven by a variety of factors including the strength of the U.S. dollar in the world economy, increased consumer spending domestically, continued declines in U.S. and N.C. unemployment rates and a rise in overall public opinion about the state of economy.

As the economic expansion continues, small and midsize business owners remain cautiously optimistic. According to the 2016 Small Business Credit Survey, most firms have expectations for 2017 similar to those held for 2016--a net 61% expect revenue to grow and a net 39% anticipate job growth. Business leaders remain focused on increasing profitability and generating generic growth, particularly through innovation.

According to Yelp's first annual Small Business Pulse Survey, millennials and minorities are most optimistic about small business growth in 2017.

Startups Are on the Rebound

Many of us have been watching with concern as the level of startups across the country fell into decline following the great recession. According to a Kauffman Foundation report startups reached their lowest point in 20 years in 2013, but have rebounded in the last three years. This is a very promising sign for tomorrow's economy. Driving this increase in startups has been significant increases in the number of female and minority entrepreneurs.

Charlotte (No. 3), Durham (No. 6) and Raleigh (No. 12) all appeared among WalletHub's list of the 16 best big cities for starting a business in 2017 based on business environment, access to...