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SBA: women-owned small business loans reach $5.1B
Cris Collingwood//October 26, 2023//
Listen to this articleSBA-backed loans to women-owned small businesses are up nearly 70%, totaling $5.1 billion in fiscal year 2023.
SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman, celebrating the 35th anniversary of the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 (H.R. 5050), announced the year’s results.
The Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 helped change the way women do business in America, most importantly by empowering them to start up on their own, Guzman said. Women-owned firms now employ more than 10 million workers and add more than $2 trillion to America’s GDP each year, and women-owned employer firms are growing at more than three times the rate of their male counterparts.
“Women-owned small businesses are helping to power America’s historic small business boom, and the Biden-Harris Administration remains committed to ensuring women receive the capital and resources they need to build resilient businesses and create jobs to fuel our economy,” Guzman said. “We are celebrating these gains, but also doubling down on our commitment to continuing our transformations to ensure women get the capital they need to fully participate in and contribute to our economy.”
H.R. 5050 eliminated laws requiring women to have a male relative co-sign a business loan, paving the way for the SBA to lend directly to women entrepreneurs. The legislation also established the National Women’s Business Council and provided seed funding for the SBA to launch Women’s Business Centers (WBCs), which today are an integral component of the SBA’s resource partner network, helping women entrepreneurs access capital, training, and counseling.
In a tightening credit environment, the SBA’s lending programs offer government-backed loans with favorable terms to fill market gaps and get needed funding into small businesses, Guzman said.
