- April 18, 2024
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According to a report given May 13 at the Economic Summit, which Facilitator Don Upton called the first business meeting of the economic development family in Flagler County, 76% of business in Flagler County have one to five employees.
That data doesn't surprise Doug Baxter, president of the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce & Affiliates, which is conducting the survey.
“I thought it would be higher,” Baxter said. Four years ago, the Center for Business Excellence reported that 93% had one to five employees, he said. In fact, Baxter is seeing a disturbing trend among those small businesses.
From his own observations of the surveys, of which 2,000 have been filled out, Baxter said more and more of them seem to have dropped from closer to five employees down to one or two.
“A lot of them are just one person,” he said. “That’s a concern.”
Still, Baxter said, the preliminary data also suggest that about half of the companies are hoping to hire.
“They just need a kick start,” Baxter said.
So far, the report also shows that 94% of Flagler businesses have fewer than 20 employees. Six businesses have more than 120 employees.
The chamber is still collecting data, but it has been a challenge. Some businesses have moved out of commercial office space and to their homes — sometimes using new cell phone numbers, which are harder to track down.
Baxter said the chamber is going door-to-door to gather more data and hopes to be done with the study by the end of June.
For more business news, check out the Business Page at www.PalmCoastobserver.com.
