The Greening of Tennessee's Economy

Tennessee's economy stands to benefit from a new emphasis on green technology - particularly Electric Vehicles. Leading the way is Nissan North America, which will bring Nissan Leaf production to its Smyrna plant in 2012.

The construction process advances every day and the foundation is already laid, structure being erected and roof being installed. The battery plant will roll out 200,000 batteries per year while the adjacent vehicle assembly plant is scheduled to produce 150,000 electric cars per year. Nissan will invest up to $1.7 billion in the local facility, with $1.4 billion coming in the form of a loan from the US Department of Energy.

This project and the development of a local supply chain, can have tremendous impact on the state's economy and make Tennessee a leader in the green economy.

Check out this interview with Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Nissan.

New Stats About the Average American Small Business

With the New Year, let's look at some new data on what constitutes the average American Business. The online journal, Small Business Trends, analyzed the results of the 2007 Survey of Business Owners. While their findings were not what I had expected this is interesting and certainly worth sharing with all you Small Business Owners out there. [Emphasis in the below article is mine, not the author's.]

What Does the Average American Business Look Like?
Posted By Scott Shane On January 3, 2011 @ 10:58

The Census Bureau recently released the results of the 2007 Survey of Business Owners, the government’s effort to examine American businesses every five years. The survey paints an interesting picture of what the average American business looks like.

The largest share of American companies is in the professional, scientific, and technical services sector, which accounts for 14.0 percent of U.S. companies. Construction accounts for the next highest portion at 12.6 percent. Manufacturing and agriculture, once the mainstays of American business, now account for 2.3 and 1.0 percent of U.S. companies, respectively.

The vast majority (78.8 percent) of U.S. businesses have no employees. And the share of businesses without employees now exceeds 90 percent in agriculture and arts, entertainment and recreation. The only sector of the economy where the majority of businesses has employees is accommodation and food services, in which 61.5 percent of businesses still have workers.

The average business generates over $1.1 million in sales, has more than 4 employees and pays an average compensation of over $41,000. However, when firms without employees, which have an average of only a little more $45,000 in sales and no employees (by definition) are excluded, average sales per firm rises to over $5 million, and average number of employees per business exceeds 20.

Wide industry variation exists in average sales and average employment. Average sales range from a little more than $96,000 in other services to over $25.1 million in utilities. Average employment varies from 0.7 employees per business in agriculture to over 107 in the management of companies.

One final point about the data is worth noting. The difference in economic impact of employer and non-employer firms is extraordinary. The 78.8 percent of businesses without employees only account for 3.2 percent of sales and none of the employment of U.S. companies. Employer firms are clearly much more economically important than non-employer firms.

For more data from this survey, click here.