New report reveals historic surge in small business financing under Biden-Harris

The U.S. Small Business Administration delivered $56 billion to small businesses and disaster-impacted communities in Fiscal Year 2024, the FY24 Capital Impact Report revealed Monday. 

Vice President Kamala Harris and SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman head of the U.S. Small Business (SBA) announced that Capital Impact Report shows that the Agency increased its annual capital portfolio by 7% over Fiscal Year 2023. For the first time since 2008, the SBA made more than 100,000 financings to small businesses, a 22% increase over FY23 and a 50% increase over 2020, per the report. 

“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the SBA has revolutionized its capital access programs, helping finance tens of thousands of small businesses in every corner of this country,” Guzman said in a statement. “As every entrepreneur knows, capital is critical – it’s integral to business owners at all stages of their journey, from startup to growth and resilience. 

“Through loans, investments, and surety bond guarantees, the SBA has helped power the small businesses that have in turn powered America’s unparalleled economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. Today, we are proud to share data that reveals how in FY24 the Biden-Harris Administration contributed once again to the historic Small Business Boom which has revitalized Main Streets and innovation hubs across America,” added Guzman. 

According to the report, small dollar loans spiked following the SBA’s historic program reforms in late FY23 that improved access to affordable small loans. The reforms contributed to a doubling of loans less than $150,000 since FY20, and a 33% increase since FY23. 

“In Fiscal Year 2024, the SBA continued its transformation of lending and investment programs and expanded its capital partners to deliver startup, growth, and recovery to include more small business lending – particularly to people of color, women, and veterans,” said SBA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator John Fleming. “Since 2020, the most dramatic trend in the SBA’s capital programs has been the outsized growth in loans to Black-, Latino-, and women-owned businesses.” 

In FY 2024, the SBA backed the following: 

• A tripling of loan count to 5,200 loans for $1.5 billion to Black-owned businesses. 

• A loan count 2.5 times greater to 9,600 loans for $3.3 billion to Latino-owned businesses. 

• Twice as many loans for women-owned businesses to 15,500 loans for $5.6 billion. 

According to a release, construction became the leading industry in the SBA’s 7(a) program in 2023-24, a result of the Biden-Harris investment in infrastructure and domestic manufacturing.