From: http://www.bizjournals.com/

Image credits: CREATAS VIA THINKSTOCK

American City Business Journals this week offers an in-depth look at small businesses in America. Our coverage includes an unveiling of our exclusive Small Business Vitality report: A ranking of 106 cities nationwide based on each city’s ability to foster the creation and development of small businesses.

That Small Business Vitality ranking was unveiled on Thursday.

Prior to that:

On Monday: We looked at concentration of small businesses* — namely, the number of small businesses* (1-99 employees) in a city expressed as a ratio per 100,000 residents of that city.

On Tuesday: We looked at the percentage of private-sector jobs in cities that are generated those small businesses.

On Wednesday: We looked at which cities among the 106 markets studied have the most small businesses.

Today, we close the week by looking at the cities that have seen the largest increase in the number of small businesses over a three-year span. Grand Rapids, Michigan, tops the list, followed by three cities from the Carolinas.

TOP 20: Cities with the largest increase (%) in number of small businesses over a 3-year span

1. Grand Rapids, Mich.: +30.9%

2. Charlotte: +28.3%

3. Winston-Salem, N.C.: +27.5%

4. Greenville, S.C.: +26.1%

5. Daytona Beach, Fla.: +20.5%

6. Ogden, Utah: +14.7%

7. Worcester, Mass.: +12.9%

8. Austin: +11.7%

9. Spokane, Wash.: +10.6%

10. Knoxville, Tenn.: +10.4%

11t. Provo, Utah: +9.1%

11t. Madison, Wisc: +9.1%

13. Nashville: +8.9%

14. Dallas-Fort Worth: +7.8%

15. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.: +7.7%

16. Indianapolis: +7.5%

17. Orlando: +7.2%

18 Houston: +6.9%

19t. Miami: +6.7%

19t. Las Vegas: +6.7%

* 2014, the most recent year for which information was available