TRIBAL ECONOMIES
PRE-CRISIS CONDITIONS While significant information is available on the basic demographic characteristics of American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) populations, information on the businesses and economies of reservations is more sparse and less current. According to the 2007 Survey of Business Owners, prior to the Great Recession, AIAN- owned establishments accounted for 0.9 percent of all business establishments in the U.S. at that time. There were 236,937 AIAN-owned establishments in the U.S. in 2007. By sector, AIAN establishments accounted for the greatest percentage in the Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing sector, although still representing only 1.9 percent of total establishments. The lowest percentage sector for AIAN ownership was Management of Companies and Enterprises at 0.1 percent. In terms of the relative contribution of each sector to the total number of AIAN-owned establishments, the top four sectors by establishment are Construction, Other Services, Healthcare and Professional/Scientific/Technical Services in that order. In comparison to the establishments patterns for the U.S. as a whole, the general distribution is somewhat similar but with certain key sectors having more or less importance. Construction, Healthcare, Administrative Services, Agriculture, and Other Services comprise a larger share of AIAN-owned establishments than they do in the rest of the country. Conversely, Retail Trade, Finance and Insurance, Professional/Scientific/Technical Services and Real Estate establishments comprise a larger sector of non-AIAN-owned firms. The graphs on the following two pages show percentage of AIAN-owned establishments by sector compared to total establishments and to total AIAN-owned establishments. Of the total of 236,937 AIAN-owned establishments, only 23,704, or about 10 percent had employees. The remaining 90 percent are characterized as non-employer establishments, such as sole proprietors, sole practitioners, independent contractors and the like. Total receipts for AIAN-owned establishments in 2007 equaled approximately $34.4 billion, up 28 percent from 2002. The 10 percent of establishments that had employees accounted for 80 percent of all receipts by AIAN-owned businesses at approximately $27.5 billion, up 25 percent form 2002. AIAN establishments with employees employed 184,416 people in 2007, an average of fewer than eight per establishment, down from 191,270 in 2002. Total payroll equaled approximately $5.9 billion at the establishments with employees for an average of $32,140 per job in 2007. Payroll was up 15 from 2002, despite fewer total employees. Total receipts for AIAN- owned non-employer establishments equaled approximately $6.9 billion in 2007, up 41 percent from 2002, for an average of $32,230 per non-employer establishment.
∴ PROGNOSIS
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