DM News cites infoUSA figures showing that the last year brought a decline in the number of U.S. small businesses. After growing rapidly to 11.6 million businesses at the end of 2002, the number started to decline, this last year losing 300,000 small businesses, the fuel behind much of the rise in online local advertising. States losing the most business were the highest tax states, such as Hawaii and New Jersey, where the few states that showed gains were generally states with specially-designed legal protections, such as Florida's haven for companies intending to seek bankruptcy protection.