By Stephen Smoot
Last month, the United States Census Bureau released the 2023 set of County Business Patterns Data. According to the Census Bureau, this represents “an annual series that provides subnational economic data for establishments with paid employees by industry and employment size.
The Census Bureau usually releases a year’s data approximately 18 months after the end of the year. Data can be accessed by nation, state, county, zip code, congressional district, or, in the cases of more populated counties, sections of them.
Data availability does come with limits. The United States Department of Agriculture, for example, collects and disseminates economic data on farming operations. Though CBPD does include the agriculture sector, it does not go into much detail on that.
Additionally, CPBD does not release information in a data point when that could be used to identify individual companies. With that data available, competitors could discern proprietary information from that company’s operations. This would eliminate the incentive for such companies to comply with census surveys.
Data released from 2023 can give a clearer picture of an area’s rebound from the economic ravages of the COVID pandemic. That said, Pendleton County’s sparse population and business community restrict the Census Bureau in the details of information that it can release.
Throughout West Virginia, the number of businesses marked by the survey increased from 2020. Numbers expanded slowly from 35,323 to 35,839, about one and a half percent. Locally, however, those numbers rose in the same time frame from 138 to 140. The largest jump came in the category of businesses that employ between 10 and 19, going from 11 to 15.
Pendleton County had 20 construction firms in 2020 and 24 three years later. All but one in 2020 had less than five employees while 21 fell into that category in 2023. According to the United States Census Bureau, such businesses in many ways make up the foundation of the U.S. economy. The majority of businesses in the U.S. have five employees or less.
The number of retail businesses declined slightly, from 23 to 21, but the county also added three businesses in the 10 to 19 employee category that were not noted in 2020.
Transportation and warehousing businesses increased from 2020 to 2023. In the former year, the county had nine, with five of them employing less than five. Ten such businesses operated in the county by 2023 with three employing between 10 and 19.
Pendleton County’s tourism economy has seen strong growth in recent years, as evidenced in the significant growth of hotel motel tax receipts for both the county and the Town of Franklin. The food service and accommodation sector showed resilience during those challenging years. Pendleton County had 13 such establishments in 2020 and the same number in 2023. In both years, five had less than five employees and five had between five and nine.
Manufacturing saw an increase from five to seven businesses in the years covered, while science and technology firms rose from six to seven.
West Virginia University’s Economic Outlook for 2022 to 2026 shared that the state’s employment numbers bounced back fairly quickly. The Mountain State lost 94,000 jobs in March and April 2020 and saw 16 percent unemployment, but gained 96 percent of those numbers back by late-summer 2021.
