A Snapshot of Minority-Owned Businesses in the Past (1972)

The Survey of Minority Owned-Business Enterprises, now known as the Survey of Business Owners (SBO), published by the United States Census Bureau, started as a special project in 1969 for minority-owned businesses. The first survey was released in 1972, giving a glance into minority-owned businesses at the time (Figures 2 and 3). (Census.gov, 2019)

Number of Businesses

There were 322,000 minority-owned businesses in the United States in 1969, making up 4.3 percent of all firms, which at the time, were about 7.5 million. Half of these businesses were Black-owned and a third of them were Spanish-speaking minority-owned businesses. The rest identified as other minority groups. (Minority-Owned Business Firms, 1969)

Business Receipts

Total gross receipts for all minority-owned businesses was $10.6 billion, which was 0.7 percent of all gross receipts for all firms at the time. Black-owned businesses contributed 42 percent, Spanish-speaking business owners supplied 32 percent and other minorities provided 26 percent of gross receipts. (Minority-Owned Business Firms, 1969)

Top Industries

The top ten industries, based on number of firms operating within that industry and gross business receipts, were: food stores, car dealerships and service stations, restaurants, wholesale trade, retail stores, special trade contractors, personal services, general building contractors, trucking and warehousing, and real estate. (Minority-Owned Business Firms, 1969)

Figure 1. Survey of Minority-Owned Business
Source: Minority-Owned Business Firms, 1969

Figure 2. Survey of Minority-Owned Businesses: Top Ten Industries
Source: Minority-Owned Business Firms, 1969