ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 7, 1995                   TAG: 9506070035
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short


NEW BUSINESSES ON THE RISE

The number of businesses incorporated in the United States rose 5 percent last year as a strong economy spurred entrepreneurs, Dun & Bradstreet Corp. reported.

A record 741,657 businesses were incorporated in 1994, up from the previous record of 706,537 in 1993, Dun & Bradstreet said. There were 33 states reporting increases and 16 states reporting declines, with Hawaii and Washington, D.C., unchanged.

``Strong economic growth and the continued restructuring of large corporations has created new opportunities for specialized business services and has driven substantial gains in the number of new incorporations during the past three years,'' said Joseph W. Duncan, vice president and corporate economist for Dun & Bradstreet.

``These steady increases, in the 5 to 6 percent range, mirror a trend last seen in the mid-80s, a period of very strong entrepreneurial activity,'' Duncan said.

Delaware led the growth with a 14.4 percent increase in incorporations in 1994. The largest drop was in Connecticut, down 8.1 percent.

- Associated Press



 by CNB