Cities across Baldwin County recorded 44 new business registrations during the week ending Jan. 14, down 12 percent from the 50 registrations logged the week before.
Foley led all Baldwin County cities in new business filings for the week, according to registration data tracking commercial activity across the county’s municipalities.
Small Businesses Drive Alabama’s Economy
New registrations are one window into the county’s entrepreneurial pace. More than 99 percent of Alabama businesses are considered small businesses, and they employ more than 47 percent of the state’s workforce, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Advocates for locally owned shops point to research on where those dollars go: a Civic Economics study found that $100 spent at a locally owned business returns $47 to the local economy, compared with just $13 for spending at non-local businesses.
Baldwin County is among Alabama’s fastest-growing counties, and weekly registration totals offer an early read on how quickly new enterprises are opening across communities from Foley to Fairhope and Daphne to Gulf Shores.