Readout of White House Hosts Small Business Lending Summit

Participants discuss how Biden-Harris Administration's actions are creating a small business boom and expanding access to capital for traditionally underserved entrepreneurs

Today, the White House National Economic Council (NEC) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) hosted a Small Business Lending Summit to discuss the Administration's strong record on lending to small businesses, and how the federal government is working with lending partners to close gaps and ensure capital access for all small businesses, especially those that are traditionally underserved or hard to reach.

Bringing together many of the largest SBA lending partners, this Summit provided an opportunity for lenders to discuss shared priorities for supporting small business growth around the country, and for Administration officials to learn about how Biden-Harris Administration policies are being implemented on the ground. In addition, SBA announced that they will be creating a Small Business Lending Federal Advisory Committee in the coming months to continue hearing directly from lenders and other stakeholders about how to best meet the capital needs of small businesses, especially in underserved communities.

Last year, the SBA provided $50 billion in capital to small businesses nationwide, partnering with lenders to provide a historic $34 billion in small business loans through their signature 7(a) and 504 loan programs. These loans have helped promote inclusive economic growth, with $5 billion going to women-owned businesses, a record $3 billion going to Latino-owned businesses, and a doubling of loans to Black-owned businesses since 2020. In addition, under President Biden, Americans have filed a record 14.6 million new business applications and business ownership rate among families has risen 9% since 2019, with particularly strong gains for Hispanic and Black households. Today's roundtable provided an opportunity for administration officials and lending leaders to discuss strategies to build on these successes and bring small business growth to new heights.

The summit featured two roundtable discussions as well as remarks by SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, NEC Director Lael Brainard, and Council of Economic Advisors Member C. Kirabo Jackson. In the first roundtable, participants discussed emerging trends in small business lending, including new technology and financing structures, and how federal agencies can support continued innovation. Participants shared successes from their small business lending strategies and highlighted how recent SBA changes to modernize their lending programs have allowed for a broader and more diverse set of credit worthy businesses to access loans, and how their improved processes have accelerated access to capital for small business borrowers. For the second roundtable, participants heard from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director (CFPB) Rohit Chopra and Acting Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Michael J. Hsu about key actions these independent regulators have taken to expand access to capital for underserved communities – including the issuance of new final rules. Participants discussed strategies and shared best practices on promoting equity in small business lending, as well as how better data collection and reporting can help banks further target their lending to underserved communities.

The following Administration officials participated in the summit:

• Isabel Casillas Guzman, Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration
• Lael Brainard, Director, National Economic Council
• Rohit Chopra, Director, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
• Michael J. Hsu, Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
• C. Kirabo Jackson, Member, Council of Economic Advisers
• Katie Frost, Acting Associate Administrator Office of Capital Access, SBA
• Jessica Milano, Chief Program Officer of the Office of Capital Access, U.S. Department of the Treasury
• Michael Negron, Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, National Economic Council

The following lending partners participated in the summit:

• Bank of America
• Byline Bank
• Cadence Bank
• CDC Small Business Finance Corporation
• Celtic Bank
• Citizens Bank of Edmond
• Eastern Bank
• Harvest Small Business Finance
• Hope Credit Union
• Huntington National Bank
• J.P. Morgan
• Live Oak Bank
• ReadyCap Lending
• TD Bank
• Wells Fargo