MONROE - Monroe was ranked among the top 10 best towns and cities in the U.S. for small businesses, by Talent Tribune, a data-driven blog dedicated to providing information, analysis and advice on human resources and the workplace.
Monroe is ranked ninth among the cities, in order, Ketchikan, Alaska.; Vernal, Utah; Pierre Part, La.; Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Punta Gorda, Fla.; Hays, Kan.; Riverton, Wyo.; Burley, Idaho; Monroe; and Boulder, Colo.
Alderman Louis Armstrong made the announcement during the Common Council meeting Tuesday.
These are the places with positive, small business hiring trends; positive, small establishment numbers growth; and high concentrations of fellow small businesses, according to Katherine Wood, author of The 10 Best Places to Open a Small Business, published on the blog Dec. 15.
Wood told The Times that her team used data from the latest Statistics of U.S. Businesses report, put out by the U.S. Census Bureau this year. The 2011 annual data includes number of firms, number of establishments, employment and annual payroll for most U.S. business establishments.
Using the SUSB Employment Change Data spreadsheets, the team "calculated the data for all businesses with 20 or fewer employees for each MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) and came up with three main criteria: percentage of all businesses that are small businesses (20 employees or fewer), net small business establishments created, and net small business jobs created," Wood reported Wednesday.
Each criterion was ranked equally to create a final score; lower overall scores indicated better small business progress and climate.
The data showed Monroe with nearly 2 percent net growth in small business establishments recently, increasing the concentration of small businesses to 76.4 percent. Monroe tied with Riverton for second place in the nation for the highest percentage of small businesses and ranked seventh for new businesses growth. The city came in 10th for its net job growth, 0.3 percent.
Talent Tribune did extra research on the cities, noting Monroe's strong connection with cheese and mentioning it as "The Swiss Cheese Capital of the USA" and host of Green County's annual Cheese Days festival.
Talent Tribune blog covers jobs, recruiting, talent management, technology and more for human resource professionals and job seekers. Its parent company, Software Providers, is a recent start-up venture by four entrepreneurs, simplifying the process of researching, verifying and buying software for its clients by matching them with the HR, accounting and CRM software they need.
An interactive graph of the statistics for city comparison is available on Talent Tribune's website: https://talenttribune.softwareproviders.com/americas-best-places-small-business/.
Monroe is ranked ninth among the cities, in order, Ketchikan, Alaska.; Vernal, Utah; Pierre Part, La.; Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Punta Gorda, Fla.; Hays, Kan.; Riverton, Wyo.; Burley, Idaho; Monroe; and Boulder, Colo.
Alderman Louis Armstrong made the announcement during the Common Council meeting Tuesday.
These are the places with positive, small business hiring trends; positive, small establishment numbers growth; and high concentrations of fellow small businesses, according to Katherine Wood, author of The 10 Best Places to Open a Small Business, published on the blog Dec. 15.
Wood told The Times that her team used data from the latest Statistics of U.S. Businesses report, put out by the U.S. Census Bureau this year. The 2011 annual data includes number of firms, number of establishments, employment and annual payroll for most U.S. business establishments.
Using the SUSB Employment Change Data spreadsheets, the team "calculated the data for all businesses with 20 or fewer employees for each MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) and came up with three main criteria: percentage of all businesses that are small businesses (20 employees or fewer), net small business establishments created, and net small business jobs created," Wood reported Wednesday.
Each criterion was ranked equally to create a final score; lower overall scores indicated better small business progress and climate.
The data showed Monroe with nearly 2 percent net growth in small business establishments recently, increasing the concentration of small businesses to 76.4 percent. Monroe tied with Riverton for second place in the nation for the highest percentage of small businesses and ranked seventh for new businesses growth. The city came in 10th for its net job growth, 0.3 percent.
Talent Tribune did extra research on the cities, noting Monroe's strong connection with cheese and mentioning it as "The Swiss Cheese Capital of the USA" and host of Green County's annual Cheese Days festival.
Talent Tribune blog covers jobs, recruiting, talent management, technology and more for human resource professionals and job seekers. Its parent company, Software Providers, is a recent start-up venture by four entrepreneurs, simplifying the process of researching, verifying and buying software for its clients by matching them with the HR, accounting and CRM software they need.
An interactive graph of the statistics for city comparison is available on Talent Tribune's website: https://talenttribune.softwareproviders.com/americas-best-places-small-business/.