Manufacturing has been on the rise in Florida in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2022 Florida saw the creation of the most new manufacturing establishments since 2002. That’s good news for the state, as the manufacturing industry is known to be an economic powerhouse for state and regional economies. It has a strong economic multiplier effect, leading to higher wages, more supply chain activity, and tremendous exporting potential. As such an economic engine, it would be easy to characterize manufacturing as “big business,” but that economic impact is almost always produced by small businesses in Florida.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 County Business Patterns, there were nearly 14,000 manufacturing employer establishments in Florida. Of those, nearly 66% were considered “very small businesses” with fewer than 10 employees. In fact, 94.4% of manufacturers had fewer than 100 employees. While definitions of employment size may impact how you assess what qualifies as a small business - after all, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) defines small businesses as fewer than 500 employees - it is clear that manufacturing is fueled by small businesses.
These small businesses employ hundreds of thousands of Floridians, with an average paycheck that exceeds median wages. On top of that, there are more than 32,000 self-employed manufacturing business owners without employees boasting average sales of around $65,000.
The Florida SBDC Network is here to support small business manufacturers. According to our annual survey, we know that manufacturers’ top three barriers to growth are access and availability of capital (46.7%); business costs, overhead, revenue, and profitability (30.3%); and government contracting (24.2%). These challenges align with the core competencies of the Florida SBDC Network’s 225+ team members who provide no-cost consulting across our 67 counties daily. By partnering with us as well as other expert statewide organizations, like FloridaMakes and SelectFlorida, manufacturers gain access to the sophisticated technical assistance they need to make their business thrive.
Wtitten by:
Amy Newburn
Research & Data Analyst Director
Florida SBDC Network State Office
