New data show small local firms create less than a third of new jobs in rural areas and are unreliable employment sources because many fail within their first 5 years of business. Local planners should consider mix of corporate affiliates offering potential of many jobs and small independent firms. (NEC)

Independent (single-establishment) businesses with fewer than 100 employees accounted for 31% of the net increase in private nonfarm jobs in nonmetropolitan areas between 1976 and 1980, when the nation's employment was expanding rapidly. Those independent businesses which were in operation less than 5 years in 1980 created jobs at a net rate of…