Wave of entrepreneurship on Long Island

New small businesses are forming at a record pace on Long Island as the economy begins to recover.

Newsday reports that small business formation on the island is up more than 25 percent over last year, according to county data. SCORE officials also told the paper that the number of unemployed people looking for business plan or financial advice has tripled in the past 18 months.

Small business development centers have also seen a rise in interest, the paper reports. The number of new clients at the center at Stony Brook University has grown more than 20 percent in the last year.

“We have definitely seen an increase in clients who are unemployed and are looking to start their own small business,” Lucille Wesnofske, regional director of the Small Business Development Center at Farmingdale State College, told the paper.

While unemployment in the area spiked in January of this year, it has remained well below national levels. Most recent figures from Nassau and Suffolk counties put joblessness below 7 percent – about 2 percent below the national average.