-by Jaya Pathak
Small business resilience: A remarkable three-year boom
A clear way to know how the economy is doing is by looking at how many small businesses are starting up. Recently, the White House shared that in the last three years, a lot of people have started their own businesses at home or on the main streets of America.
President Joe Biden said, “Whenever someone starts a new small business, it shows they have hope and confidence in our economy.” He mentioned that during the first three years of his time as President, 16 million new business applications were filed by Americans. This is the highest number ever recorded and reflects 16 million hopeful and confident actions.
Since 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau has been keeping track of how many new businesses are starting up. The data they shared recently tells us that since Biden and Harris took office, there have been nearly 16 million new business applications. This is a big increase, about 85% more applications per month compared to before they took office. In the past three years, there’s been an average of 440,000 new business applications each month, which is 46% higher than the average from 2017 to 2020 combined.
Keith Hall, who is the President and CEO of the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE), a big supporter and helper of people who work for themselves or have really small businesses, mentioned, “The amazing number of small businesses starting up all over the country is fantastic news for not only our community but also for our local and national economy.”
Ying McGuire, who is the CEO and President of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, said, “As our country continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and deals with recent economic ups and downs, we celebrate the bravery and determination of all new business owners, especially those who are Black, Hispanic, AAPI, Native, and others, who are taking big steps to start their own businesses despite facing challenges.” She added, “The strength shown by these leaders shows the true spirit of America and brings new chances for success not only for them but also for their communities and the whole country.”
The number of people starting their own businesses has been growing, especially among women, Latinos, and Black Americans. Black people starting businesses has grown the fastest in 30 years, with the percentage of Black households owning a business going from 5% to 11% between 2019 and 2022. Latino business ownership also went up from 7% to 10% during the same period, which is the fastest increase in over ten years. But the biggest growth seems to be in women-owned businesses. From 2019 to 2023, the number of women-owned businesses increased by 94% more than men-owned businesses.
Chiling Tong, who is the President and CEO of the National Asian Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE), said, “The President telling us about a record 16 million new small businesses in the last three years shows that the US economy is good for entrepreneurs, and that business owners believe in the economy.” She added, “AAPI businesses have been doing well because of a stronger economy, with over 2.91 million AAPI owned businesses and still growing, creating jobs and making their communities stronger.”
Isabel Casillas Guzman, who is the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), said, “More Americans than ever are following their dreams of starting their own businesses as the number of new business applications under President Biden keeps increasing.” She mentioned, “In just the past year, people all across America and in different types of jobs applied to start a record-breaking five and a half million new businesses.
This adds up to a total of 16 million new businesses under this Administration, which is a record. America’s diversity is helping more Black, Latino, and women founders to start businesses at higher rates than before. As we go into 2024, the SBA will keep working to make it easier for people to get the resources they need to start and grow strong new businesses, using the special hope and creativity of American entrepreneurs.”
Many small business owners believe that the recent huge growth in their businesses wouldn’t have happened without government support. It seems that the plans of the Biden-Harris Administration, called the Investing in America Agenda, are helping small businesses all over the country.
Walt Rowen, who is the President of Susquehanna Glass Company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and also the Co-chair of Small Business for America’s Future, said, “Policies like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act are keeping this positive progress going. The $400 billion being invested in all 50 states is creating lots of new chances for small businesses while also fixing our country’s roads and bridges and making our supply chains stronger.”
This growth is related to other good things happening in our economy, like creating new job opportunity in the last three years. As we start 2024, our main goal as a country should be to keep improving on these successes.
