Employment in Chesterfield County last year grew by 6 percent. The increase for the entire United States was 1.9 percent for the same period. The details behind the 6 percent increase are impressive.
During his last Board of Supervisors meeting before retiring, Chesterfield County Administrator J.L. “Jay” Stegmaier highlighted the record breaking growth in employment and business establishments in Chesterfield during last year. Mr. Stegmaier reported on the release of data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics ranking Chesterfield as the county with the fourth-fastest growth in employment in the country during this time period.
During the 2014-2015 period, the net increase in jobs in Chesterfield was 10,063. In the past 25 years, Chesterfield has never added as many jobs in a one year period. The second largest net increase was the 6,340 jobs added in 2011-2012. More than 40% of the new jobs added last year were in firms with less than 250 employees. Small businesses in Chesterfield added 4,049 net new jobs in the county in 2014-2015.
Over the past five years, the net increase in jobs in Chesterfield was 23,784. One of the reasons for the large increase in jobs was an equally impressive increase in the number of establishments in the county. The net increase in establishments in Chesterfield was 665.
This was also the largest increase in the past 25 years. The previous best was a net increase of 388 in 1990-91. Once again small businesses helped contribute to this increase. Chesterfield had 497 new startup firms set up shop in the county in 2015. All of this is true evidence that Chesterfield is a First Choice Community to start and grow a business! For more information, contact Chesterfield Economic Development at (804) 318-8550, or email at [email protected].
