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.
Archives: Resources
From Prison to Business
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and as many as a third of Americans have some type of criminal record. Upon reentry, individuals with a justice history, whom we refer to as returning citizens, face significant barriers to economic security and reintegration into their communities. Among the most formidable barriers to reentry are a disadvantaged living environment, low levels of education, mental health challenges, and stigma that excludes them from job opportunities and other resources.
2023 Report on the Creative Economy
The focus of this year’s report is viewing the future of the creative economy through an increasingly important lens: gaming technology. The video game industry has experienced explosive growth in recent years, and it is having an impact far beyond the gaming community in transformational ways. Gaming technology is foundational to the development of nearly all sectors, not just the creative ones, prompting both structural and operational shifts throughout the entire economy.
How Did Self-Care Industries Perform at Start of Pandemic?
According to the Census Bureau’s 2021 Service Annual Survey (SAS), while overall estimated Services Total revenue for employer firms decreased 1.7% from 2019 to 2020, estimated employer firm revenue for some of the service industries supporting self-care grew from 2019 to 2020.
Biden Economic Agenda 2021-23
President Biden made a series of concrete commitments to the American people about his plan for economic recovery and renewal. This blog post reviews those commitments and progress made in the two years since they were made.
Business Dynamics During COVID-19
Preliminary results suggest that small businesses helped soften the economic blow of COVID-19, and they may have helped the economy innovate and adapt. Further research on the relationships between performance, business applications, startup rates, and job quits during COVID-19 could shed light on the importance of small businesses in combating and recovering from economic crises.
SBA Advocacy Annual Report
Now, more than ever, it is important to focus on the need for strong connections between founders and the investors looking to support them, as reflected in the visual theme of this year’s annual report: building bridges. We call on Congress, the Commission, and our partners to support small businesses and their investors, with a particular focus on underrepresented founders and their investors.
Minority Business Ownership by Sector
There were more Hispanic-owned businesses overall and more minority-owned businesses in various sectors in 2020 than a decade earlier, according to the Census Bureau’s 2021 Annual Business Survey (ABS).
Increase in Number of U.S. Black-Owned Businesses Between 2017 and 2019
The number of U.S. Black-owned businesses grew from 2017 to 2019 in all sectors of the U.S. economy, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Business Survey (ABS). We reviewed business patterns among Black business owners, drawing on Census Bureau data since 2017. U.S. Census Bureau
Scaling Lending to Entrepreneurs of Color: Part I
As the Biden administration settles into office amid the ongoing COVID pandemic, there continues to be tremendous concern among policymakers, corporate leaders and philanthropists about the financial health of U.S. small businesses — especially the smallest ones. Meanwhile, we are still very much in the throes of a racial reckoning, with the pandemic further laying