In a recent release from the United States Census, it was reported that 9% of all U.S. Businesses are Veterans Owned. These Veteran owned businesses had an impressive sales receipts of $1.2 trillion, 5.8 million employees, and an annual payroll of $210 billion. Clearly, veterans are major contributors to the US economy. Construction companies were just behind the largest veteran owned sector of “professional, scientific, and technical services.” California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Georgia had the largest numbers of veteran-owned businesses.
Of the total number of veteran-owned businesses, only 8.3 percent had service connected disabilities. 94.8 percent of veteran business owners were male, and 89.7 percent were white. Only 7.6% of the total veteran owners were African American, and 4.6% were Hispanic American. An interesting statistic is that about 75% of the owners were over the age of 55. It seems most of the veteran owners today came from the Viet Nam War era. This means there is a lot of opportunity for younger veterans to build up their businesses now as the older veterans retire. How did these veterans get their money to start their company? 61.7% reported using personal or family savings. In a very distant second place were banks or other commercial lenders at 9.8%. We imagine that the percentage of veterans helped by banks will be reduced in future years because banks really aren’t yet participating in our economy.