Starting off 2023, we are energized to celebrate our resilient U.S. small business owners, which continue to drive our American economy through innovation, job creation, and delivery of timely goods and services.
Recently, Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice for America’s over 33 million small businesses in President Biden’s Cabinet, announced that our Agency reached nearly $43 billion in funding to small businesses, providing more than 62,000 traditional loans through its 7(a), 504, and Microloan lending partners and over 1,200 investments through SBA licensed Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022.
SBA’s entrepreneurial development resources are the front door to America’s small businesses. The SBA is committed to ensuring millions of U.S. small businesses have the free tools they need to plan, launch, manage and grow. These tools include access to capital, opportunities in federal contracting, access to entrepreneurial education and mentoring, and disaster assistance for business owners, homeowners, and renters.
In Fiscal Year 2022, the SBA continued to help mentor and train aspiring and existing business owners through our SBA Resource Partner SCORE. SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer business mentors, represents a vast network of industry-specific experts from diverse communities across America. SCORE mentors provide face-to-face and online counseling, training, and mentoring to help small businesses develop strategic plans, conduct market studies, implement new technologies, access needed capital, engage in exporting, and much more. SCORE’s outstanding accomplishments and efforts in Fiscal Year 2022 include:
- Reaching over 300,000 unique mentoring clients
- Helping 77% of businesses stay in business
- Developing content through its Small Business Resilience and SCORE for All initiatives
- Supported and promoted the SCORE for Rural Entrepreneurs Initiative
- Receiving a net promoter score of 89
Whether just starting out or aspiring to expand, every entrepreneur deserves free tool access to achieve their American dream. The SBA continues to catalyze U.S. small businesses and the American economy by faithfully providing tools and solutions through our SBA Resource Partners, District Offices, and Community Navigator networks.
As entrepreneurs seek more opportunities to start, grow and build resilient businesses, they can benefit from the mentorship and services that SCORE provides. You can find SCORE locations throughout the country at sba.gov.
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About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration makes the American dream of business ownership a reality. 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.
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