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Analysis Shows Micro Crucial to
Nebraska
Microenterprise
contributes nearly 1 of every 6 private non-farm jobs in
the state.
A Center for Rural Affairs analysis of federal
employment and business data compiled by the Association
for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) shows microenterprise
employment is important for all of Nebraska, but it is
especially important to the most rural parts of the
state.
Using a methodology developed by Professors James C.
McConnon and Thomas Allen of the University of Maine,
AEO compiled “Micro-enterprise Employment Statistics”
for each state using 2001 U.S. Census Bureau and U.S.
Department of Commerce data (the most recent data
available) to determine what percentage of private
non-farm employment in a state or county is from
microenterprises.
Using AEO’s data, we determined what types of counties
in Nebraska had the greatest dependence on
microenterprise employment. We used the county typology
employed in other Center research reports (the number in
parentheses is the number of Nebraska counties in each
type):
Rural Farm Counties (50): 20 percent or more of
county income from agriculture and no town as large as
2,500 population.
Urban Farm Counties (10): 20 percent or more of
county income from agriculture and a town of 2,500 to
19,999.
Non-farm Counties (25): Less than 20 percent of
county income from agriculture.
Metropolitan (8): Part of a Census Bureau
designated Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Microenterprise employment is a crucial part of the
economy throughout Nebraska, comprising nearly 1 of
every 6 private non-farm jobs in the state. Rural
counties in Nebraska have dramatically higher rates of
microenterprise employment than do the more urban and
metropolitan areas of the state. As the numbers below
show, all rural classes of counties have microenterprise
employment rates more than double our metropolitan
counties.
| County Type |
Microenterprise Employment
(percent) |
| Nebraska (total statewide) |
15.9 |
| Rural Farm |
29.6 |
| Urban Farm |
26.9 |
| Ag-Based (rural and urban farm) |
28.6 |
| Non-farm |
17.1 |
| Metropolitan |
13.1 |
Examination of individual county rates of
microenterprise employment demonstrates the same
dichotomy – the 10 counties with the highest percentage
of microenterprise employment are rural counties
primarily in north-central and western areas of the
state. The 10 counties with the lowest percentage of
microenterprise employment are primarily the largest
metropolitan counties in the state and/or home to the
largest cities in the state, and generally follow the
I-80 corridor through the state.
These data show that microenterprise development must be
a significant part of economic development policy of the
state, particularly the state’s rural development
policy. Programs such as the Microenteprise Partnership
Development Act (that funds REAP and other micro
programs in the state) must continue to be fully funded.
The Center will soon release an “Issue Brief” on this
topic. Look for it at the Center’s website,
www.cfra.org .
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