SBA Funded Small Businesses With $44.8 Billion in 2021

Isabella Casillas Guzman, the administrator at the US Small Business Administration, announced on October 29 that the SBA issued more than 61,000 traditional loans in the fiscal year 2021.

“In the midst of a once-in-a-generation pandemic, the SBA’s mission-driven team delivered a record number of SBA’s traditional loans to our nation’s small businesses – in addition to more than $1.1 trillion in COVID-related relief since the start of the pandemic,” Guzman said in an SBA press release.

She also pointed out that, despite the progress, the inequality regarding the accessibility of capital persists. She said that the SBA must do more to lower the entry barriers. It should make money accessible to all entrepreneurs. 

The Associate Administrator for the Office of Capital Access, Patrick Kelley, added that “the SBA continues to make headway in helping small businesses access much-needed capital, but much more work remains to be done.” He said that the volume of SBA’s flexible, low-interest 504 loan programs grew by 41%. The SBA team is already at work preparing for 2022, he said.

SBA’s data of note for the fiscal year of 2021, under the leadership of Administrator Guzman, includes some interesting stats. The SBA issued nearly 52,000 7a loans that were worth more than $36.5 billion. Minority business owners received almost 30% of the SBA’s total portfolio, while women-owned businesses received nearly $5 billion. Veteran-owned companies received $1.2 billion in 2021.

The 504 loans were worth $8.2 billion, and the SBA delivered it through 9,600 loans. This fund also increased its support of small businesses from rural areas by nearly a third. Microloan funding also provided $71.8 million to nearly 4,400 small businesses. Slightly less than half of the total amount went to Hispanic and black-owned small businesses.

The current SBA loan programs are lifesavers for small businesses having trouble receiving loans from traditional lenders. Closing the gap in access to capital for the smallest of businesses has been a top priority of Administrator Guzman, and this strategy should continue into 2022 as well.