Four years after the end of the recession, Store Front businesses – those considered the heartbeat of America - continue to grow, outpacing the growth of the overall U.S. economy. The newly launched CAN Capital Store Front Business Index powered by PYMNTS.com forecasts a growth rate of 2.9 percent for Q2 2015, up slightly from the overall annual real growth rate of 2.4 percent growth for GDP for 2014.

"Store Front" businesses are defined as those that drive the local economies of the cities and towns in the U.S. and consist of businesses in 9 segments that typify the local small business enterprise:

• Building Contractors / Remodelers

• Service/Repair

• Eating and Drinking Places

• Retail

• Personal Services

• Professional Services

• Health Care

• Fitness

"The Store Front Business Index is a creative way to measure the health of the businesses that are the backbone of our local economies," said Karen Webster CEO of PYMNTS.com, creator of the model and methodology that powers the Store Front Business Index. "Our model analyzes data for each of the 3.4 million 'Store Front businesses' in the U.S. and not only measures the health of this important business community, but gives us a good sense, overall, of the health of businesses in the U.S. by sector and by geography."

The Store Front Business Index tracks more than 36% of all small business establishments in the U.S., using a variety of publicly available data sets. The quarterly Index measures the vitality of this sector of small businesses based on the growth in new establishments, wages and employment.

"Over the past seventeen years, our team at CAN Capital has worked closely with small businesses across the country and seen firsthand the valuable impact they have on not only local communities, but the broader economy," said Daniel DeMeo, CEO of CAN Capital. "We are pleased to see that the Index points to continued growth within the sector, and we are committed to supporting that growth by providing small businesses with the fast, efficient access to capital that is so critical to their continued success."

According to the Index findings, the Pacific West is the strongest driver of regional gains, while Building Contractors and Home Remodelers is the leading industry segment. Small business wages are the largest driver of growth in the Index, increasing 7.9% on average in 2014. This growth is projected to slow to 5.0% for 2015. Meanwhile, the number of small business employees also saw steady growth throughout the country, at an average rate of 2.9% in 2014 and is projected to grow by 2.7% this year.