Business Retention

The Business Retention indicator measures the rate of growth or decline in the number of neighborhood businesses over time, and is an important barometer for the economic strength of a neighborhood. Business retention is key to the health of the local economy. Local businesses contribute to the social fabric of a community, by augmenting social networks and increasing access to the labor market. Some studies show that promoting business retention and expansion is integral to job creation; however most job creation efforts focus heavily on business recruitment, while giving relatively less attention to the former. At the population level, prolonged business decline has been linked to negative mental health outcomes and other morbidities. The HCAT includes a measure of the number of businesses that have opened or closed on a year-to-year basis. Although found under the Economic Health domain, the Business Retention indicator can also be linked to the Employment Opportunities, Social Cohesion, and Neighborhood Characteristics domains. Data for the Business Retention indicator is available from the InfoGroup, Inc.

Neighborhood Indicator Value Ranksort descending
West Brownville 100.0% 1
Airport Highlands 100.0% 1
Maple Grove 100.0% 1
West Goldwire 50.0% 4
Dolomite 45.8% 5
Mason City 36.8% 6
Oak Ridge 33.3% 7
Oak Ridge Park 28.6% 8
Industrial Center 25.0% 9
Smithfield Estates 24.1% 10
Druid Hills 20.5% 11
Oxmoor 13.3% 12
Penfield Park 12.5% 13
Tarpley City 12.5% 13
North Pratt 11.8% 15
Grasselli Heights 11.1% 16
North East Lake 5.1% 17
Crestwood South 3.8% 18
Woodlawn 3.3% 19
Oakwood Place 2.0% 20
Fountain Heights 1.6% 21
Enon Ridge 0.0% 22
Ensley Highlands 0.0% 22
Hillman Park 0.0% 22
Woodland Park 0.0% 22
Crestline 0.0% 22
Zion City 0.0% 22
Overton 0.0% 22
Bridlewood 0.0% 22
Gate City 0.0% 22
Brummitt Heights 0.0% 22
Southside -1.4% 32
Hooper City -2.8% 33
Arlington - West End -3.3% 34
Wahouma -3.7% 35
Five Points South -4.4% 36
Sherman Heights -4.6% 37
Liberty Highlands -4.7% 38
Norwood -6.0% 39
Huffman -6.0% 39
Roosevelt -6.3% 41
Roebuck -7.0% 42
North Avondale -7.1% 43
Jones Valley -7.3% 44
North Titusville -7.8% 45
Thomas -7.9% 46
Roebuck Springs -8.0% 47
South Woodlawn -8.0% 47
Powderly -8.7% 49
East Thomas -8.7% 49
Sandusky -9.1% 51
Crestwood North -9.3% 52
Kingston -9.4% 53
Garden Highlands -9.5% 54
West End Manor -9.7% 55
Belview Heights -10.0% 56
Echo Highlands -10.3% 57
Collegeville -10.5% 58
Riley -10.5% 58
Ensley -10.8% 60
Killough Springs -11.1% 61
South Titusville -11.3% 62
South East Lake -11.6% 63
Germania Park -11.6% 63
Sun Valley -12.0% 65
Glen Iris -12.2% 66
College Hills -12.5% 67
Bush Hills -12.8% 68
Brown Springs -13.0% 69
Central Park -13.3% 70
Forest Park -13.4% 71
Harriman Park -13.8% 72
East Brownville -14.3% 73
Eastwood -14.5% 74
Highland Park -16.0% 75
East Lake -16.7% 76
Central City -17.2% 77
East Avondale -17.3% 78
Apple Valley -17.4% 79
North Birmingham -17.7% 80
Spring Lake -18.1% 81
Smithfield -18.6% 82
Fairview -18.9% 83
Inglenook -19.2% 84
Central Pratt -19.4% 85
Rising - West Princeton -20.0% 86
Tuxedo -20.9% 87
Graymont -21.6% 88
Redmont Park -21.6% 88
Acipco-Finley -21.7% 90
Fairmont -23.8% 91
Wylam -24.6% 92
Hillman -25.0% 93
Green Acres -25.9% 94
Evergreen -25.9% 94
East Birmingham -27.4% 96
South Pratt -28.6% 97
Brownsville Heights -40.0% 98
Pine Knoll Vista -50.0% 99

Key Citations:

  1. Cothran H. Business Retention and Expansion (BRE) Programs: Why Existing Businesses Are Important. Food and Resource Economics Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. 1 Aug. 2006. Web. 4 Feb. 2013. .
  2. Virtanen M, Mika K, MaElovainio, Pekka Virtanen, and Jussi Vahtera. “Local Economy and Sickness Absence: Prospective Cohort Study.” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 59, no. 11
  3. Takano T, Nakamura K. An analysis of health levels and various indicators of urban environments for Healthy Cities projects. Epidemiol Community Health. 2001; 55: 263-270.