Florida is one of the three states with the highest number of veteran owned businesses, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday, based on 2007 numbers.
Florida was home to 176,727 businesses, or 7.2 percent of firms, owned by veterans, putting it behind California and Texas.
The Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners defines veteran-owned businesses as firms in which U.S. military veterans own 51 percent or more of the equity, interest or stock of the business.
In 2007, U.S. military veterans owned 2.4 million businesses, which accounted for 9 percent of all businesses nationwide, according to the Census Bureau. These businesses generated $1.2 trillion in receipts, or about 4.1 percent of all business receipts nationwide, and employed nearly 5.8 million people.
