National Small Business Week!

The Scarlet Begonia on Main Street celebrates being a Veteran-Owned Business.

Celebrate by 'Buying Local' from Madison's Small Businesses!

Did you know that more than 78 percent of all U.S. businesses in 2023 were independently owned businesses with fewer than 500 employees? That's right; and these businesses accounted for nearly $1.8 billion in revenue that year.

America's economy truly is powered by our small business-owners and those who work for them! This translates to the majority of Madison's 15,000+-strong workforce being employed by small businesses. And these are a diverse group, including: Retail, with a booming downtown shopping district; construction; services, like plumbing and HVAC; automotive sales and repair; art-related businesses; and many other categories.

In Indiana, the Small Business Administration is celebrating the week with several free programs, both online and in-person:

• Q&A with SBA, online, Noon to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, May 7

• OMBWD Day (Office of Minority and Women Business Development), Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, May 8

• 2026 America's Seed Fund Week, online; Noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, May 12-14

• Rev Up Rural –– Southeast Indiana, Scottsburg, 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, May 21

The numbers for businesses owned by women, minority (non-white and non-Hisptanic) women, and women military veterans have all been going up, too. Overall, businesses owned by women increased 20 percent in 2023; businesses owned by women military veterans increased nearly 26 percent, while businesses owned by minority women increased nearly 50 percent that year. These numbers come from the Annual Business Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

According to its Indiana Entrepreneurial Scorecard, which looks at a variety of statistical data points from 2021 to 2023, Jefferson County had a total of 672 small-business establishments, including 10 owned by veterans, 70 owned by women, and another 10 owned by minorities. Additionally, in 2022, the county boasted 8,790 jobs in the Innovation Driven Enterprise sector, with the average wage at nearly $78,000 per year.

So, don't just CELEBRATE small businesses and entrepreneurship in Madison and Jefferson County by shopping locally and hiring locally based service providers!

Join in the fun!

The Indiana Small Business Development Corporation offers tons of information and support programs to start and grow your business in Indiana.

The SBA offers loan programs and plenty of information at SBA.gov, and the Census Bureau's website offers information and free training opportunities to help you get started, including:

• Small Business resource page. Helps businesses identify their customer needs and tap into new markets.

• Census Business Builder (CBB). A suite of services to help entrepreneurs examine competitors and the best location(s) to start their businesses. Small businesses can use the CBB to craft their own business plans.

• Data User Guidance: Purposes and Uses of Economic Census Statistics. Provides key examples of how small businesses can use census data and tools for business planning.

• Webinars. The Census Bureau hosts a variety of talks on business-related subjects, like last year’s webinar on Building a Better Business Plan Using Free Census Data.

Sources for this post include the U.S. Small Business Administration, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Indiana Small Business Development Corporation.