[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 48 (Friday, March 11, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12867-12868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05447]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 
U.S.C. chapter 35).
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0986.
    Form Number(s): The online survey instrument does not have a form 
number.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 290,000.
    Average Hours per Response: 35 minutes.
    Burden Hours: 169,167.
    Needs and Uses: In an effort to improve the timely measurement of 
business dynamics in the United States, the U.S. Census Bureau conducts 
an annual survey focused on employer businesses. The survey is known as 
the Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs (ASE) and collects information on 
characteristics of businesses and business owners. The ASE is a 
supplement to the Survey of Business Owners and Self-Employed Persons 
(SBO), which provides economic and demographic characteristics for 
businesses and business owners by gender, ethnicity, race, and veteran 
status every 5 years. The ASE is an intercensal program that helps 
assess the health of the economy and provides detailed statistics on 
businesses and business owners more frequently. The ASE is a joint 
effort funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Minority 
Business Development Agency (MBDA), and the Census Bureau. The Census 
Bureau will collaborate with the Kauffman Foundation, the MBDA, and 
other agencies to ensure the ASE is as robust and effective as 
possible.
    The inaugural ASE began collection in September 2015 for the 2014 
reference year. Corresponding estimates will be released in late summer 
of 2016. Estimates will include number of firms, sales/receipts, annual 
payroll, and employment by gender, ethnicity, race, and veteran status. 
The ASE includes questions from the 2012 SBO long form SBO-1 with 
additional questions to collect data on entrepreneurs' access to 
capital. The ASE introduces a new module each year focusing on an 
important component related to business growth. Proposed module topics 
include innovation, research and development, technological advances, 
Internet usage, management and business practices, exporting practices, 
and globalization. The 2014 ASE module covered innovation and research 
and development. The 2015 module, the subject of this request, will 
cover management and business practices. We are proposing no changes to 
the core questions currently asked on the ASE. The survey samples 
approximately 290,000 employer businesses stratified by metropolitan 
statistical area (MSA), frame, and age of business. This survey will 
help assess the impact young firms have on the growth of the economy. 
Additionally, the survey has a longitudinal component that will allow 
the growth of the firms in the sample to be tracked and analyzed over 
time.
    This collection allows the Census Bureau to collaborate on the 
implementation of a key National Academies recommendation for improving 
the measurement of business dynamics in the U.S. economy, which 
recommended:

    The Census Bureau Survey of Business Owners (SBO) should be 
conducted on an annual basis. The survey should include both a 
longitudinal component and a flexible, modular design that allows 
survey content to change over time. In addition, the Census Bureau 
should explore the possibility of creating a public-use (anonymized) 
SBO or a restricted access version of the data file.

--Lynch, Lisa M., John Haltiwanger, and Christopher Mackie, eds. 
Understanding Business Dynamics: An Integrated Data System for 
America's Future. National Academies Press, 2007.

    The additional sources of capital and financing questions provide 
information on the financial trends and financial challenges faced by 
entrepreneurs. Tabulation of the financing questions will offer insight 
into the type of funding acquired and used by women-, minority-, and 
veteran-owned businesses. Questions for the 2015 management and 
business practices module were developed in conjunction with the Ewing 
Marion Kauffman Foundation, MBDA, and the Census Bureau. Census Bureau 
labor economists contributed to the development of the management 
module by identifying relevant questions about entrepreneurs' 
management, record-keeping, and other business practices. The 2015 ASE 
module will allow for an assessment of management practices that 
contribute to business growth. Questions from the management practices 
module will also provide an understanding of the types of workers used 
by a business and the types of tasks they perform. The ASE is designed 
to retain certain businesses in the sample from year to year. This will 
help track and assess the growth of these firms and changes to their 
business characteristics over time.
    The ASE collection is electronic only. An initial letter that 
informs the respondents of their requirement to complete the survey and 
provides survey access instructions will be mailed from the Census 
Bureau's processing headquarters in Jeffersonville, Indiana. For the 
2015 ASE, approximately 290,000 letters will be mailed to employer 
businesses that were in business during 2015. Initial mailout will 
occur in June 2016, with a due date of July 27, 2016. There will be two 
follow-up letter mailings to nonrespondents after the due date. 
Closeout of mail operations is scheduled for November 2016. Upon the 
close of the collection period, the response data will be processed, 
edited, reviewed, tabulated, and released publically.
    The survey will collect data on the gender, ethnicity, race, and 
veteran status for up to four persons owning the majority of rights, 
equity, or interest in the business. These data are needed to evaluate 
the extent and growth of business ownership by women,

[[Page 12868]]

minorities, and veterans in order to provide a framework for assessing 
and directing federal, state, and local government programs designed to 
promote the activities of disadvantaged groups.
    The SBA and the MBDA will use the data to allocate resources for 
their business assistance programs.
    The data will also be widely used by private firms and individuals 
to evaluate their own businesses and markets. Additionally, the data 
will be used by entrepreneurs to write business plans and loan 
application letters, by the media for news stories, by researchers and 
academia for determining firm characteristics, and by the legal 
profession in evaluating the concentration of minority businesses in 
particular industries and/or geographic areas.
    Government program officials, industry organization leaders, 
economic and social analysts and researchers, and business 
entrepreneurs are anticipated users of ASE statistics. Examples of data 
use include:
     The Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Minority 
Business Development Agency (MBDA) to assess business assistance needs 
and allocate available program resources.
     Local government commissions on small and disadvantaged 
businesses to establish and evaluate contract procurement practices.
     Federal, state and local government agencies as a 
framework for planning, directing and assessing programs that promote 
the activities of disadvantaged groups.
     The National Women's Business Council to assess the state 
of women's business ownership for policymakers, researchers, and the 
public at large.
     Consultants and researchers to analyze long-term economic 
and demographic shifts, and differences in ownership and performance 
among geographic areas.
     Individual business owners to analyze their operations in 
comparison to similar firms, compute their market share, and assess 
their growth and future prospects.
     Researchers and businesses to understand the innovation 
and research and development activities conducted by entrepreneurs.
     Researchers and businesses to understand the record-
keeping and management practices implemented by entrepreneurs.
     Federal agencies to assess the competitiveness of 
businesses by ownership characteristics.
     Data users to understand time-series data in certain 
industries for entrepreneurs.
     Business owners or perspective business owners to gain 
knowledge about the funding of businesses.
    Affected Public: Business or other for-profit, not-for-profit 
institutions, State, local or tribal government.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Mandatory.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 8(b), 131 and 182. 
Executive Order 11625, Section 1(a)(3).
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce 
collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this notice 
to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.

    Dated: March 7, 2016.
Glenna Mickelson,
Management Analyst, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2016-05447 Filed 3-10-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P