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2023 Report on Employer Firms

Small business revenue, employment, and profitability each improved from 2021, but expectations worsened year-over-year. With the end of pandemic-related funding programs, the application rate for traditional financing rebounded to prepandemic levels.

Building Wealth Inclusively Through Business Ownership

Although business ownership may not be the primary way that most individuals and families build wealth in the United States, in any capitalist economy it’s a route that cannot be ignored. Especially when the rules of that economy have been set such that in the past two decades, much of the growth in income inequality

Linking Inclusive Finance with Inclusive Insurance in the United States Through Community Development Financial Institutions

Climate change is altering the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events, disproportionately harming low- and moderate-income (LMI) communities. Small businesses and microenterprises play a critical economic role in these communities. These businesses are essential for disaster recovery, providing needed goods and services and reestablishing employment, and yet are themselves highly vulnerable to economic shocks,

Using Technical Assistance to Improve Minority and Rural Small Business Access to Capital

Minority owned small businesses face more challenges in obtaining capital than other small businesses. As stated in the PayPal-funded report, Reducing the Racial Financial Health Gap: The Opportunity for Responsible Fintech, “Black-owned small businesses have faced huge challenges in credit availability, which contributes to the racial disparities in income, financial health, and wealth. The COVID-19

Understanding the American Entrepreneurship Landscape: A New Resource

The Entrepreneurship in the Population (EPOP) Survey is a new publicly available resource for understanding the scope of entrepreneurial activities across the United States. The EPOP Survey includes a variety of measures of entrepreneurial behavior at a local level, providing policymakers and researchers with new information on the experiences and perceptions of entrepreneurs in their

Small Business Facts: An Overview of Immigrant Business Ownership

Immigrant owners consist of roughly 18 percent of business owners with employees and almost 23 percent of business owners without employees. Immigrant-owned businesses are found in every sector of the U.S. economy. Immigrants made up 36.8% of employer businesses in accommodation and food services. Transportation and warehousing had the largest share of immigrant nonemployer business

The Small Business Boom Under the Biden-Harris Administration

Through the American Rescue Plan and the equitable implementation of emergency relief programs, President Biden and Vice President Harris fostered the strongest recovery for Main Street on record. In 2021, Americans applied to start 5.4 million new businesses—more than 20 percent higher than any previous year on record. The boom in new business creation has been

Barriers to Business

You shouldn’t need a law degree to start the small business of your dreams. But too often, entrepreneurs struggle with local regulatory burdens, finding themselves trapped by high fees, long wait times, and complex paperwork. These burdens amount to a death by a thousand cuts, unless aspiring business owners can successfully navigate them before reaching

Small Business Finance FAQ February 2022

Small businesses borrow mainly for four reasons: to start a business, purchase inventory, expand,
or to strengthen the firm’s financial health. Firms choose different means of financing depending on
the intended purpose.