Forty-one percent of Black-owned businesses closed permanently during the pandemic between February and April 2020 as most were affected by the COVID-19 restrictions on retail and hospitality establishments.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — The Knoxville Chamber of Commerce has released Economic Conditions Outlook for November 2023, which included a report that ranked the state of Tennessee as one of the best in the nation for Black entrepreneurs.
Merchant Maverick, a comparison site that reviews small business software and services, ranked the Volunteer State as the second best in America for Black entrepreneurship. Tennessee moved up nine spots from its No. 11 ranking in 2022.
The report used seven different factors in their evaluation: black-owned employer businesses per capita, percent of workforce employed by black-owned businesses, average annual payroll of black-owned businesses, average annual income of black business owners, cost of living, unemployment rates, and state income tax rate. The first four metrics accounted for 75% of each state’s final score.
The top ten states were No. 1 Maryland, No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 Nevada, No. 4 Virginia, No. 5 Georgia, No. 6 Louisiana, No. 7 Indiana, No. 8 Texas, No. 9 North Carolina, and No. 10 Florida.
Read the full Economic Conditions Outlook for November 2023 here:
