Certification & Industry-Specific Learning
• Small-business owners have notably more formal education than the adult population, particularly considering they are on average older. However, of the 46 percent of owners with at least a fouryear college degree, less than one-quarter majored in engineering and the physical or life sciences.
• Forty (40) percent of small-business owners now have 30 years or more of experience in the industry of their current business and another 28 percent have between 20 and 29 years.
• Forty-nine (49) percent of small employers report that they must possess some type of credential or skill certification to operate their businesses.
• The place small-business owners most frequently obtain the necessary knowledge and/or skill set to earn their credentials is an apprenticeship or on-the-job-training (27%), followed by formal education (24%). A trade or vocational school program yields credentials for another 11 percent of those needing them. Thirteen (13) percent of owners simply study for initial credentials on their own. Seven (7) percent take specific on-line or face-to-face courses.
• Fifty-four (54) percent of small employers needing credentials must take periodic continuing education-type courses to retain certification. Still, 42 percent of those who are no longer required to take such courses do so anyway.
• Sixty-eight (68) percent of small employers are members of a business, trade or professional organization. The most important organization for 64 percent of them offers a business, technical or professional training/education program; 57 percent offer some type of credential.
• Small-business owners requiring certification are more likely to be a member of at least one trade/business/professional association and much more likely to belong to multiple such groups. They are also more likely to belong to groups where the educational component of the organization is valued.
• In the last year, two of three small employers attended at least one convention or trade show.
• Thirty-six (36) percent of all small employers took at least one course that lasted four hours or more on a business-related subject in the last year. The most frequent sponsor of such courses was a business or professional association (36%) followed in frequency by a supplier (26%).
• The subject of these courses/seminars was most often technical or professional in nature. Topics that have general applicability with the exception of marketing were not of frequent interest.
• The most common purpose of taking a course/seminar (66%) is to upgrade skills. Another 25 percent took one to get or stay certified while 3 percent did so to resolve a specific problem.
• Though 30 percent of small employers spent less than an hour in the last 12 months attending or on-line in education and training sessions, the median time spent for the remainder was about 16 hours or two full days.
• Forty-three (43) percent of owners claim that once a week or more they now go to a Web site(s) to ask a question or have an e-mail conversation about some aspect of their business, excluding the purchase of products or services.
• Use of the Internet and reading traditional periodicals are re-enforcing means to obtain industryspecific information. Small-business owners who use one tend to use the other.
