With a loss of 434 establishments, or 28 per 100,000 people, the intensity here isn't "quite as severe as some of the other regions," said Stein, but even "a smaller number of losses still has a fairly consequential hit on the economy."
Bret Mayborne, the director of Economic Research at the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) attributes the losses to a slow growing population and a dependence on manufacturing during the time period in which that sector was especially weak.
But, he said, such environmental factors have changed in Milwaukee's favor in the past year. Metro Milwaukee added 19,400 jobs in May, a 2.39% increase and well above the national average of .73%. In addition, Mayborne said, "the MMAC's third-quarter business outlook survey suggests a healthy third-quarter growth environment" for both small businesses and larger manufacturers.
A low loan failure rate is a vote of confidence both for the franchise business model -- or concept -- and for the people involved. The following franchises all had relatively low loan failure rates.
