Big Business as the Engine of Small Business

Small businesses are the lifeblood of our local economies. But they don’t thrive in a vacuum.

From March 2023 through March 2024:

• Small businesses created about 1.2 million net new jobs
• That was 88.9% of all net new jobs in the United States

Over the last decade, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that small businesses:

• Employed roughly 46% of the workforce, yet
• Generated 55% of net new jobs

They also:

• Produce about 43.5% of U.S. GDP
• Pay about 39% of private‑sector payroll
• Account for 99.7% of employer firms
• Represent 97.4% of U.S. exporters by number of firms

In other words: small business is the growth engine.

Yet large businesses are often treated as villains by communities and councils—out of fear, suspicion, and zero‑sum thinking. That mindset hurts the very small businesses everyone claims to champion.

Large enterprises, structured well, are anchors that enable small enterprises. They provide tax base, infrastructure, and stable demand that allow local entrepreneurs to grow.

Take data centers. In one small Texas city, the anticipated tax revenue from a proposed center could cover the operating costs of 4 of the city’s 8 fire stations. That’s a massive offset of municipal expense that can be redirected into streets, schools, and services—which small businesses benefit from directly.

Without anchors, the boats just drift aimlessly.

Large employers investing in our communities are not the enemy. The real enemy is the delusional belief that saying “no” to serious investment somehow protects small business. It doesn’t. It starves it.

Categorized in: General