PHILIPSBURG–A total of 107 new businesses have opened in the country since the passing of Hurricane Irma, initial statistics coming out of the Economic Census Survey (ECS) show.
According to the Department of Statistics STAT, the majority of these new businesses are in the food service sector. These new businesses currently employ 386 persons, 201 or 52 per cent of whom are female.
According to STAT, the legal form of new businesses is almost evenly divided among limited liability NVs (29 per cent) and BVs (28 per cent), and sole proprietorship (26 per cent). The roughly 1,700 businesses that were actively operating before the September 2017 hurricanes are mostly NVs, with sole proprietorships being the second.
Wholesale and retail trade represents the biggest portion of these businesses with accommodation and food service being the second largest sector.
Currently employed in the existing businesses are 13,104 people, of whom 6,460 are female. The 13,104 is down from 13,831 of the same businesses before the September 2017 hurricanes.
STAT began the survey approximately 10 weeks ago and has received information from more than 1,800 actively-operating entities.
STAT Head Makini Persaud-Hickinson said she remains very pleased with the cooperation of the business community so far and feels very confident that the survey will provide a good baseline of statistics for the country.
The ECS is now in its final phase, where STAT is verifying the non-visible/micro-businesses that are registered, but not necessarily operating from an openly visible location. The project has therefore been extended by three weeks and will now run until the third week of August, to enable STAT to thoroughly get an idea of how many of these businesses are still active, it was stated in a press release.
The ECS is an internationally used exercise to collect and report on the number of business establishments according to their size, economic activity/industry and location.
STAT will also be able to identify and report on the number of micro, small, medium and large entities operating in St. Maarten.
Nine interviewers have been canvassing business operations in eight zones: Lowlands, Simpson Bay, Cole Bay, Little Bay, Cul de Sac, Philipsburg, Upper Prince’s Quarter and Lower Prince’s Quarter.
The survey is a main data source for creating a comprehensive statistical business register system, calculating more accurately the gross domestic product (GDP) and obtaining data on the number and distribution of economic establishments by industrial category, region and number of employees.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/78705-107-new-businesses-opened-since-irma
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