(BLACK PR WIRE) – On a national level, black-owned businesses have increased drastically according to the data from Survey of Business Owners: Black-Owned Business: 2007 on the U.S. Census Bureau website.

The start-up of black-owned businesses has increased by 55.1 percent to $137.5 billion annually in national commerce, according to the survey of business owners. Black-owned businesses have also increased by 60.5 percent to 1.9 million, which exceeds the national rate of 18.0 percent. From 2002 to 2007, four in 10 black-owned businesses operated in the fields of health care, social assistance, repair, maintenance and laundry services.

“Black-owned businesses continued to be one of the fastest growing segments of our economy, showing rapid growth in both the number of businesses and total sales during this time period,” said Census Bureau Deputy Director Thomas Mesenbourg.

New York State had 204,032 black-owned businesses, which accounted for 10.6 percent, Georgia State had 183,874, which accounted for 9.6 percent and Florida State had 181,437, which accounted for 9.4 percent of the nation’s total black-owned businesses, according to the press release of the Census Bureau of Reports, the number of black-owned businesses increased at triple the national rate.

“Work hard in what you want to do,” said Link Austrie, the owner of A Gentleman's Image Barber Shop, off of Palm and Pines Boulevard in Pembroke Pines, Florida. “People should be encouraged to pursue school training in desired fields of interest. Plan your work and work your plan; eventually, you will watch your money work for you.”

Many other black-owned businesses have opened non-traditional businesses. For example, Maxwell Ingham established Party Starter in 2006. “I wanted to provide a convenient service to the community who wanted to have parties for their children, birthdays and social club events in Dade County,” Ingham said.