The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has revealed new data showing the rate of SBA-backed loans going to Black-owned businesses has more than doubled under the Biden-Harris Administration.
The SBA has backed more than 4,300 SBA loans to Black-owned businesses so far in fiscal 2023 through the 7(a) and 504 programs. Total loan dollars, a total of $1.3 billion, and overall share of SBA approved loans (7.5%) to Black-owned businesses have also more than doubled since 2020. The 7(a) Loan is SBA’s primary business loan program. It provides guaranties to lenders that support financing to small businesses for a range of uses, up to $5 million. SBA’s 504 Loan provides long-term, fixed rate financing up to $5.5 million for major fixed asset purchases by small businesses.
Up to 13.1 million new business applications were filed since President Biden took office — a rate 65% faster than the pre-pandemic average. The SBA reported that this “boom” was largely led by women and people of color. SBA has taken major steps aligned with the President’s Investing in America agenda to increase access to its core capital programs, especially among Black entrepreneurs. These include:
- Expanding the Community Advantage program, which supports lending to small businesses in underserved communities through mission-driven, community lenders, and making mission-oriented lending a permanent part of the SBA loan program through the Community Advantage Small Business Lending Company license;
- Deploying the $100 million Community Navigator Pilot Program funded under President Biden’s American Rescue Plan;
- More than tripling the number of Women’s Business Centers at Historically Black Colleges and Universities;
- Forging partnerships with the National Pan Hellenic Council, Operation HOPE, and others; and
- Implementing new reforms to address capital access gaps.
Complete SBA lending data for 2023 will be available after the end of the fiscal year. The public can access dashboards updated daily to analyze SBA lending totals by demographic group, industry and other breakdowns at SBA Office Of Capital Access – Dataset – U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) | Open Data.
