Black Owned Businesses are among the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. economy, says the Census Bureau. The number of black-owned businesses grew by 45% from ‘97 to ‘02, more than 4 times the overall rate. Blacks now own 5% of all non-farm U.S. businesses. Revenues increased 25%, to about $89 billion. 92% have no employees other than the owner vs. 75% of all U.S. businesses. From ‘97 to ’02 the number of all U.S. businesses grew 10%, to 23 million; the number owned by women grew 20%, to 6.5 million; those owned by men grew 16%, to 13.2 million; Hispanic-owned businesses grew 31%, to nearly 1.6 million while white ownership hit 8%, or 19.9 million. (USA Today 4/18/06)