Maryland Black-Owned Businesses Boom in Mid-Decade

By Steve Kilar

Capital News Services

The number of black-owned businesses in the U.S. increased by about 60 percent -- more than three times the national average for business growth -- between 2002 and 2007, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

Among the states, Maryland had the third-largest percentage of firms with black ownership in 2007, behind Washington, D.C., and Georgia.

At the time, Maryland had about 102,000 black-owned businesses -- approximately 19 percent of Maryland firms -- according to the government survey.

In 2007, about 55 percent of business in Prince George's County were black-owned, the highest percentage among the nation's large counties. Baltimore City had nearly 15,000 black-owned businesses that year.

Among the nation's large cities, Baltimore had the third-largest percentage -- about 35 percent -- of black-owned businesses in 2007. The number of black-owned businesses in Baltimore increased by about 50 percent between 2002 and 2007.

In the metropolitan Washington region, which includes Maryland and Virginia suburbs, the number of black-owned businesses increased by about 42 percent, to more than 95,000 firms. Almost 30,000 of these businesses were in two industries, "health care and social assistance" and "professional, scientific, and technical services."

The data comes from the 2007 Survey of Business Owners, a division of the government's "economic census." The data is gathered every five years. It was released Tuesday.

For purposes of data collection, businesses are considered to be "black-owned" if a majority of a firm's equity is controlled by an owner who self-identifies as black.