WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden and Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice in the President’s Cabinet for America’s more than 34 million small businesses, announced new data showing that entrepreneurs have filed more than 20 million business applications under the Biden-Harris Administration, an all-time high for any four-year period on record.
“When taking the measure of our economy, business startup activity is a clarifying metric – and in the last four years, Americans have powered our economy through entrepreneurship,” said SBA Administrator Guzman. “Today, the Small Business Boom reached yet another historic milestone with more than 20 million new business applications filed since President Biden took office. This return to business dynamism has been strengthened in part by the SBA’s many capital reforms, which have funded entrepreneurs – particularly those from traditionally underserved communities who lacked viable financing options – to start, run, and grow their businesses. When the historians write this chapter of America’s story, startup activity and business dynamism will loom large.”
Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, there have been more than 20 million new business applications with an average 441,453 filed each month – a rate over 91% faster than pre-pandemic averages. This historic Small Business Boom has been driven by women and people of color, with data showing Black business ownership doubling since 2019, Latino business ownership at the highest level on record, and the number of women-owned businesses is increasing at nearly twice the rate of male-owned businesses.
Since President Biden took office in 2021, SBA lending to historically underserved entrepreneurs has grown exponentially. The SBA recently released its FY24 Capital Impact Report which revealed that, in the last fiscal year, the Agency delivered:
- 5,200 loans totaling $1.5 billion to Black-owned businesses, a tripling of loan count relative to FY20.
- 9,600 loans totaling $3.3 billion to Latino-owned businesses, more than doubling the loan count relative to FY20.
- 15,500 loans totaling $5.6 billion to women-owned businesses, a doubling of loan count relative to FY20.
- More than 100,000 individual small business financings, the highest on record since 2008.
Having already achieved the first, second, and third strongest years of new business applications on record, the Biden-Harris Administration’s economy remains on track for its fourth consecutive year of historic business filings.
To view the complete FY24 Capital Impact Report, please visit SBA 2024 Capital Impact Report.
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About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.