- July 28, 2021
- Posted by: Stratford Team
- Category: Business
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Just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Small Business Index from MetLife and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reached an all-time high. The sentiments of American business owners and entrepreneurs matched the national economy, which was enjoying robust growth, rising wages, and low unemployment.
The pandemic crisis dealt a harsh blow to small and young companies, forcing thousands to close and threatening the survival of hundreds of thousands more. As crises are wont to do, Covid-19 exposed underlying fractures in the small business landscape. Despite the heady pre-pandemic days, the crisis forced us to confront large disparities in financing and discouraging trends that had existed for many years.
Among these:
- While business creation among people of color has been higher than among whites for many years, business exit in the first three years has consistently been higher for Black- and Hispanic-owned businesses.
- Over half (58%) of Black-owned…
