WASHINGTON – High-impact firms

create Michigan’s new jobs and growth, according to a study recently

released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business

Administration. Distributed across all industries, high-impact firms

account for almost all employment and revenue growth in the national

economy, the study concludes.

Of the 376,604 high impact firms identified by researchers nationwide,

11,006 are located in Michigan. That number represents 2.07 percent of

Michigan’s firms.

The study High-Impact Firms: Gazelles Revisited, defines high-impact

firms as those whose sales have at least doubled over a four-year period

and which have an employment “growth quantifier” (the firm’s absolute

change in employment multiplied by the percent change) of two or more.

The study notes that such firms are found across all industries and in

all geographic regions. It ranks regions, states, metropolitan statistical

areas, and counties by their percentage of high-impact firms. The study

finds, with some data limitations, that high-impact firms are not start-ups

but are on average around 25 years old, and that they come in all size

classes. The report also documents that over the periods studied, nearly

all job losses came from large, low-impact firms.

“High-impact firms are important to Michigan’s economic growth and

development,” said Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist for the Office of

Advocacy. “State policy makers would be wise to consider how their policies

can encourage such firms.”

The Office of Advocacy, the “small business watchdog” of the federal

government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy

and independently represents the views of small business to federal

agencies, Congress, and the President. It is the source for small business

statistics presented in user-friendly formats, and it funds research into

small business issues.

For more information, a complete copy of the report and rankings of

high-impact firms by region, state, MSA, and county, visit the Office of

Advocacy website at SBA.Gov/Advo

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