Small business. The core of the economy
They may not be big, but what they achieve is huge.
You can see it and feel it around the Valley: restaurants, farmers markets, and other new local businesses opening and bringing vitality back to abandoned city blocks. It could mean the economy is finally turning around, or that something is in the air. Hope, maybe; or more entrepreneurs simply wanting to be part of a thriving community. Small businesses have this effect, you know. They may not be big, but what they achieve is huge.
Not only do they make a community flourish at street level, small businesses also sustain local economies, drive innovation, and increase our competitive edge. Did you know that more than half of Americans either own or work for a small business? They also create 60 to 80 percent of new jobs in this country. Next month, National Small Business Week will recognize the estimated 29.6 million small businesses in America for their contributions to the economic well-being of the United States, despite the recession.
How does Arizona
|
| 2010 Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index (SBTCI)Rank for Fiscal Year 2010: 28Rank for Fiscal Year 2010: 24
The SBTCI is designed to measure the competitiveness of states’ business tax climate. It places 112 variables into five component indexes: Corporate Tax Index, Individual Income Tax Index, Sales Tax Index, Unemployment Tax Index, and Property Tax Index. The total score for each state is calculated based on the scores on these indexes. |
| 2009 Forbes Best States for BusinessForbes Best States for Business factors in 33 different points of data to determine the ranks in the six main areas listed below. Business costs that include labor, energy, and taxes are weighted the most heavily. It relies on nine different data providers. Moody’s Economy.com is the most utilized resource.Overall rank: 36
Business costs: 31 Index based on cost of labor, energy, and taxes Labor: 14 Measures educational attainment, net migration, and projected population growth Regulatory environment: 45 Economic climate: 7 Reflects job, income, and gross state product growth as well as unemployment and presence of big companies. Growth prospects: 38 Reflects projected job, income, and gross state product growth as well as business openings/closings and venture capital investments. Quality of life: 47 Index of schools, health, crime, cost of living, and poverty rates. |
In Arizona in 2008, small business income totaled $14.2 billion. Two years before that, small businesses in this state employed more than 2 million people and paid out more than $85 million in payroll, according to the U.S. Census. That’s a lot of local financial stimulus. When currency is re-circulated over and over, it creates up to 75 percent more tax revenue for the community and state.
No city can prosper with corporate giants alone. Small businesses are the community’s underpinning, so to speak, and keep the money local and create jobs. Shop at the little bakery in the barrio, and instead of your money going to corporate headquarters in Texas, it stays right here in Arizona. If the baker buys her lemons from a farmer in Queen Creek, sells her unique tres leches cake to locally owned bistros, and contracts her packaging designs out to the graphic designer/customer down the street, it becomes a win-win-win collective of commerce. As small businesses work together, their interconnectivity brings other businesspeople, consumers, neighbors and visitors into the mix, reinforcing the foundation. It’s that give and take that is at the core of economics, ¿verdad?
To have your own small business, to be your own jefe is an American Dream, but it’s not easy. And to be successful at it takes dedication, passion, creativity, integrity, business acumen, determination, diligence, even resourcefulness – or a really strong dose of any of the above y más.
The small business owners profiled here have what it takes to be their own jefe. They all happen to be interconnected somehow, contributing to each other’s success, not just the local economy’s success. Together, these five small businesses roughly bring in $10 million dollars in annual receipts – not bad. A nice chunk of change for the community.
PASSION
Joe Ray
President/Creative Director, Estudio Ray
Artist Joe Ray exemplifies passion and creativity in his own painting and printmaking, but also in the strategic branding he produces at Estudio Ray. Established in 1985, Estudio Ray is a strategic and creative branding company that has left its mark on many local labels, including Oro Verde Products and Mi Ranchito’s Sabores product line. Estudio Ray has weathered the tough economy and recently received accolades from national peers in Package Design Magazine. Ray believes the misconception that Latinos just do business with other Latinos is dissolving, but he also believes that it’s healthy for Latinos to support each other in the community. His boundless enthusiasm – which is what we mean by passion – can be heard in his voice when he talks about his approach to business, specifically business in Arizona. “Arizona is the arena!” says Ray. Ray grew up near Parker, Arizona, and moved to Phoenix in 1978. His artwork conveys a bicultural perspective, and a passionate one at that.
