“Pinch the tail and suck the head!” A deceptively crass statement but a very common phrase in Louisiana. It’s actually how you eat crawfish and the Bayou State has a lot of it. As a matter of fact, 90% of the global supply of crawfish is from Louisiana. The state is also popularly known as the original home of Tabasco sauce.
Apart from sauce and fish, the state’s major income earners are agriculture (cotton, soybeans, cattle, sugarcane, poultry and eggs, dairy products, and rice) and industry (chemical products, petroleum and coal products, processed foods, transportation equipment, and paper products). The tourism sector is also thriving, especially in New Orleans, with its French-Creole architecture and Mardi Gras festitivies that attract nearly a million people during the height of the season.
In 2014, according to a countrywide survey by governing.com, Louisiana was ranked the fifth friendliest state for small business (SMB), coming in after Virginia and Texas. The state administration has been boistering business activity through incentives and capital funding since the early 2000s especially after the devastating effects of hurricane Katrina.
Here are some statistics on the state of small businesses in Louisiana:
- The state has 457,636 small businesses representing 99.5% of all businesses operating within its borders.
- There are 905,147 small business employees who account for 53.6% of all employees in the state.
- Out of the over 457,000 small business owners in Louisiana, 64,735 are self-employed minorities.
- Small businesses generated 8,760 net jobs in 2019. Firms with fewer than 20 employees had the largest gains, adding 10,608 net jobs.
- Self-employed individuals who run their own incorporated businesses have an average median income of $47,000. Those running unincorporated businesses have a median income of $23,000.
- The state, through the Small and Emerging Business Development (SEBD), helps entrepreneurs boost their managerial and technical skills, which may include hiring consultants to help businesses overcome impediments to growth.
- To form a partnership in Louisiana, you need to file a Statement of Partnership Authority form with the Secretary of State. The filing fee is $100.
- State law requires that every new Louisiana LLC designates a Louisiana registered agent that will be available during regular business hours at a physical address within the state.
- There are 3,213 small businesses in the export business that account for 31.1% of Louisiana’s $61.9 billion worth of export revenue.
- Five industries claim the largest share of small business employees:
- Health care and social assistance (160,187)
- Accommodation and food services (126,963)
- Retail trade (94,094)
- Construction (78,954)
- Professional, scientific, and technical services (68,610)
- Louisiana has both a corporation franchise tax and a corporation income tax. The corporation franchise tax is basically a net worth tax imposed for the privilege of doing business in Louisiana. The tax rate is broken down as follows:
- $1.50 for each $1,000 or major fraction thereof up to $300,000 of capital used in Louisiana
- $3.00 for each $1,000 or major fraction thereof in excess of $300,000 of capital used in Louisiana
- To form a corporation in Louisiana, you need to file your Articles of Incorporation with the Louisiana Secretary of State. The filing fee is $75.
- Three industries boast the largest number of small businesses:
- Professional, scientific, and technical Services (51,613)
- Construction (46,871)
- Health care and social assistance (44,604)
- In 2019, Louisiana banks issued 89,084 loans under $100,000 (under the Community Reinvestment Act) for a total value of $1.2 billion.
- The information industry is the second smallest in the state with a total of 4,105 small businesses currently working in it.
