Tennessee leads the nation in small business growth

Tennessee led the nation in the growth of small businesses during 2017, although the growth didn’t necessarily translate into bigger wage gains for workers at such businesses.

According to data compiled by one of the nation’s biggest payroll providers, Tennessee’s small business employers added workers at the fastest pace of any state in the nation last year, growing more than 2 percent during the year.

Paychex, the payroll provider for 605,000 businesses and organizations nationwide, said wage data show the Volunteer State is growing at the fastest pace.

“This index reflects what is happening on Main Street with a lot of mom and pop operations with under 50 employees and those type of businesses often grow as an offshoot to major development or growth in an area, like what you are seeing in the automotive industry in Tennessee and around high-growth cities like Nashville,” Frank Fiorille, vice president of risk management and data analytics for Paychex. “Tennessee is well located and its economy is doing very, very well right now with transportation, automotive and other sectors. That helps small businesses to also grow.”