White House touts ‘Small Business Boom’ after record reached

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris celebrated what they called a “small business boom” during their administration.

Some 14.6 million applications for new businesses were filed since Biden’s inauguration. Families that own businesses increased by 9% overall.

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“Since I took office, Americans have filed nearly 15 million applications to start businesses – and the percent of Black households owning a business has more than doubled,” Biden wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Get out there today and #ShopSmall.”

Saturday marked Small Business Saturday, a shopping holiday intended to rival Black Friday. Last year, consumers spent $17.9 billion according to the American Express-comissioned 2022 Small Business Saturday Consumer Insights Survey.

“On Small Business Saturday, join me in celebrating our nation’s small businesses and the entrepreneurs and workers who power them. These businesses are the heart of our communities, and they thrive when we invest in America,” Harris wrote. “[The President] and I are proud to have their back.”

This comes after the Small Business Administration announced earlier this week that it had spent “$50 billion in capital, disaster relief, and bonding to small businesses and disaster-impacted communities across America” during the 2023 fiscal year. The majority of the funds went to some 5,200 businesses seeking disaster assistance.

“Starting and running a business takes tremendous grit and determination, but it also takes capital — something too many enterprising Americans have historically been unable to obtain equitably and affordably,” SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said in a statement. “The Biden-Harris Administration remains committed to simplifying and addressing persistent inequities in accessing capital to ensure all small business owners can get the funding needed to grow and create jobs for our economy.”

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For the first time in the SBA’s history, it offered Small Business Lending Company licenses to non-depository lenders, which exist outside of banks and loan companies in order to reach “rural and Native communities, and communities experiencing persistent poverty.” According to the administration, it is part of the “Biden-Harris Administration’s agenda to advance equity and build an inclusive economy.”

There are almost 32 million independent businesses in the U.S.