[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