Small businesses are the backbone of agriculture and local rural economies, as they create jobs and keep money local while adapting to the needs of consumers. Over the past several years, there’s been an even greater shift towards supporting small businesses over large corporate chains, which is why the team at USA TODAY Blueprint decided to take a look at data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s County Business Patterns program. Sierra Campbell, lead editor at USA TODAY Blueprint, said the renewable energy industry has seen the largest growth.
Campbell said it was also interesting to see where those businesses were seeing the best growth.
Agricultural businesses are also among the top performing small businesses across the country. Campbell said this could be caused by people realizing that they don’t have to specifically be a farmer in order to work in agriculture.
Campbell added that it helps that small businesses allow you to see a real person working hard to make a living offering their products or services, as that usually resonates with people.
Click here to find out more about the study from USA TODAY Blueprint.
