Today, President Biden and the Small Business Administration announced that a record 18 million new business applications have been filed under the Biden-Harris administration — the most applications under any president in history. Thanks to President Biden’s economic agenda, the economy is growing from the bottom up and middle out, and business owners of color are getting the help they need to serve their communities and bolster economic growth across the country. 

NEW: The number of small business applications filed under the Biden-Harris administration reached a record 18 MILLION. 

Statement from President Biden: “Today, my Administration announced over 18 million new business applications since I took office, each one an act of hope and confidence. We’ve had the three strongest years for new businesses on record and the small business boom that has powered our economic comeback continues.”

Statement, Small Business Administration: “Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, there have been 18.1 million new business applications with an average 443,000 filed each month – a rate over 90% faster than pre-pandemic averages. Having already achieved the first, second, and third strongest years of new business applications on record, President Biden’s economy remains on track for its fourth consecutive year of historic business filings. The U.S. economy has grown more under President Biden than at this point in any presidential administration in the last quarter century.”

President Biden’s economic agenda has helped hardworking Americans and business owners, especially business owners of color, get back on track since the pandemic. 

Statement from President Biden: “Since the pandemic, Black business ownership has more than doubled, Hispanic business ownership is up 40 percent, and women own a record share of businesses.”

Forbes: “‘AAPI businesses have benefited from a stronger economy, with over 2.91 million AAPI owned businesses and counting, fueling job creation and economic growth in their communities,’ [said Chiling Tong, President and CEO of the National Asian Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE).”

Let’s not forget every Republican voted against President Biden’s historic American Rescue Plan that helped hundreds of thousands of restaurants and child care programs stay open.

White House Fact Sheet: “The American Rescue Plan also includes a Small Business Opportunity Fund to provide growth capital to main street small businesses in economically disadvantaged areas, including minority-owned businesses”

Statement from President Biden: “Every Republican in Congress voted against vital American Rescue Plan relief that helped 100,000 restaurants and bars and 225,000 child care programs stay open, and a State Small Business Credit Initiative that is helping businesses launch across the country.”

Trump sided with big corporations and greedy Wall Street execs over small businesses during his presidency — and he’s promised to do it again if reelected. 

New York Times: “Republicans argue that this will benefit small businesses. In fact, a large majority of small-business owners already have personal tax rates below 25 percent. This provision would aid a small group of developers, investors and other tycoons who work in professions or industries where it is relatively easy to set up pass-through businesses. Like, yes, Mr. Trump and his family, who make their money from one such industry: real estate.”

Vox: “Trump said this tax break was for small businesses. It’s giving $17 billion to millionaires this year”

“If many average Americans aren’t noticing or loving the tax cut bill yet, it might be understandable — it benefits the wealthy by design. And a congressional report released this week shows that one specific new deduction for so-called ‘pass-through’ companies is heavily benefiting the rich. … The Republican tax bill cut the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent and disproportionately benefits corporations and the wealthy.”

Trump’s administration left behind small business owners of color during the pandemic.

NPR: “But a new report from the Small Business Administration’s inspector general found that businesses owned by people of color may not have received loans as intended under the Paycheck Protection Program. There was no evidence, the report said, that the SBA told lenders to prioritize business owners in ‘underserved’ markets, including business owners of color — something the CARES Act had specifically instructed the SBA to do.”

And Trump repeatedly spewed anti-Asian rhetoric during the pandemic, which was followed by an uptick in hate crimes, violence, and backlash against AANHPI-owned businesses. 

CNBC: “‘We were scared’: Asian-owned small businesses devastated by double whammy of Covid and hate crime”

PBS NewsHour: “Asian-owned businesses say they’re reeling from hate and violence, operating in fear”