Raghu Chittimalla

Raghu is the founder of Techstar and a community leader. He has spent more than a decade improving the workplace environment and inclusivity. We also talked about the role of SMB and how can we create a better work environment?

Video Topics:
# Local employment
# Improving the work environment
#SMB

The United States has the most advanced software and information technology (I.T.) services industry globally. More than 40 percent of the $5 trillion global I.T. market is in North America, primarily the United States. The industry accounts for $1.8 trillion of U.S. value-added GDP (more than 10 percent of the national economy) and 11.8 million jobs. According to CompTIA, more than 525,000 software and I.T. services companies in the United States. 40,500+ tech startups were incorporated in 2018 alone. This includes software publishers, custom computer programming services suppliers, computer systems design firms, and facilities management companies. The industry draws on a highly educated and skilled U.S. workforce of nearly two million people, which has continued to grow during the past decade.

Small enterprises accounted for 64% of the net new jobs created between 1993 and 2011 — or 11.8 million from the net new jobs created 18.5 million —. During the recovery from the Great Recession of mid-2009 to 2011, small businesses accounted for 67% of net new jobs created, led by large companies with 20 to 499 employees. Data and research from the SBA Office of Advocacy Fund show that small businesses produce more than half of all new private non-agricultural gross domestic product and generate 60-80% of all new net jobs.

Firms with fewer than 500 employees – drive the U.S. economy, creating jobs for nearly half of the U.S. private workforce. Small businesses account for 42.9 percent of all American payrolls, driving a ton of consumer spending into the economy and tax dollars into our state budget. Since 1995, small businesses have created two of three net new jobs (64 percent) in our country.