Small businesses have been the backbone of the United States’ booming economy for a number of years. Most of them start with a dream, a lifelong ambition of an aspiring entrepreneur to do what they are passionate about, which then becomes a small business.
Maine is no stranger to small businesses, as a matter of fact, it has been labeled as one of the best states to start small businesses, despite the small population size, and comparatively lower number of small businesses when compared to other states.
The Pine Tree State is a consistent, and brilliant contributor to America’s economy. Over the past few years, Maine has been constantly talked about as a “State of Small Business”, which means that through various pro-business factors, such as supportive local communities, solid infrastructure, export/import access, and a good labor market, Maine has been considered a perfect state to start a small business.
Number of Small Businesses in Maine
So, how many small businesses are there in Maine? There are 149,355 small businesses in Maine, according to the latest figures (2020) from the SBA.
It is not just Americans and locals to Maine starting small businesses in Manie; the state, although not being a huge attraction for international entrepreneurs and foreign-born people, there are still some immigrant entrepreneurs that have decided to call the state their home for business.
There are 2,368 immigrant entrepreneurs in Maine that account for 2% of all self-employed Maine residents.
The following bar graph shows the number of small businesses in Maine in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Of the 149,300 small businesses in Maine in 2020, there is a wide array of different enterprises from small, one-person sole proprietorships or LLCs to much larger businesses with several hundred employees. If you want to join the 149,000-plus small businesses in Maine, it is fairly easy to register a business in Maine.
To be a small business in Maine, you have to qualify as one. So, to operate as a small business in Maine, you must have a company with less than 500 employees.
Let’s take a deeper dive into the number of small businesses in Maine by looking at the top industries, small business owners, employees, and more!
Latest Small Businesses Statistics in Maine
- Small businesses equate to over 99.2% of all businesses in Maine.
- There are 293,872 small business employees in Maine, which is 57.2% of the states’ employees.
- In 2019, Small Businesses in Maine added 5,924 new jobs!
- Small businesses employing 20 or fewer employees created the most job gains!
- There are 3,777 self-employed minorities in Maine demonstrating the diversity in the state.
- International trade in Maine is quite strong and there are 1,610 small business exporters.
- There are more construction firms small businesses in Maine than any other type – 22,431.
- Professional scientific and technical services make up the 2nd largest number of small businesses in Maine – 17,369.
How Many Small Businesses in Maine?
Over 149,000 is a lot of small businesses to be registered in a state with such a small population size (45th most populous). Compared to the rest of the U.S., the total number of small businesses in Maine is 0.47% of all U.S. businesses. There are 31.7 million small businesses in the U.S.
The number of small businesses in Maine has been growing over the last several years.
- In 2017 there were 144,002 small businesses, which increased to 145,536 in 2018 (1.06% increase).
- In 2019 there were 147,270 small businesses which were 1,734 more than the state had in 2018 (1.19% increase).
- From 2019 to 2020, the number of small businesses in Maine rose again, to 149,355. This is the second-largest increase in percentage terms over the past five years (1.41%) and demonstrates Maine’s strong economy.
Maine has an incredible amount to offer small businesses and aspiring small business owners from all over the world, this is due to its access to consumer markets, brilliant support networks, and systems in the forms of small business development centers and advisories, readily available capital, and a collaborative environment for small businesses in any industry.
If you would like to download the latest 2020 Small Business Profile on Maine from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, the Profile can be downloaded here.
