Administrator Isabel Guzman, Small Business Administration (Photo/US Department of Commerce)
By Karen Stokes
Since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, American entrepreneurs have filed over 20 million new business applications, the most in any single Presidential term in history.
Under the Biden-Harris Administration, they’ve had the first, second, and third strongest years of new business applications on record, and are on track for a fourth. This is happening in communities across the country and each new business is an act of confidence in the economy.
“We’ve seen a record 20 million new business applications filed, not just a Covid blip but a resounding return to business dynamism where small business and entrepreneurship are really driving the economy forward. It’s being led by women and people of color, particularly Black and brown communities where we’ve seen Black entrepreneurs owning a business more than double from 5 percent to 11 percent now,” said Administrator Isabel Guzman, Small Business Administration.
Business ownership has doubled among Black households and hit a 30-year high for Hispanic households; new business creation rates hit a 30-year high for Asian Americans; and women own a higher share of businesses than before the pandemic.
Over the last four years, entrepreneurs have filed an average of over 440,000 applications every month, a rate over 90% faster than pre-pandemic averages.
“The resources, the networks, and the capital that’s necessary to start and grow a business are what the SBA focuses on doing,” said Guzman. “We’ve seen a historic small business boom thanks to the historic investments in America and the economic recovery that we’ve achieved through the American Rescue Plan as well as the changes and modifications and reforms that we have been implementing at the SBA.”
Guzman also stated that there has been a surge in digital and tech-driven startups.
While the Biden-Harris Administration has invested in small businesses that lift communities in every corner of the country, Congressional Republicans have repeatedly tried to cut SBA’s funding by nearly a third and want to raise taxes and costs for small businesses.
“President Biden has said from the beginning that diversity is our strength,” Guzman said “We worked really hard in this administration to ensure that everyone with a great idea could have the opportunity, that pathway forward to achieve their American dream of business ownership.”