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MBN USA

June 15, 2022

Survey: SMBs lack funds for unplanned $5,000 expense

Reimagine Main Street in partnership with the National Asian / Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE), U.S. Black Chambers, Inc. (USBC), and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) recently hosted a virtual roundtable, Trust and Access to Capital to discuss findings from our new national survey of diverse small business owners.

The event featured top line findings from the survey and perspectives from business, government and advocacy leaders with remarks from Congresswoman Judy Chu who serves on the House Small Business committee.

The survey found that nearly half of small business owners, and more small business owners of color, lack confidence in their ability to to fund an unplanned $5,000 business expense. At the same time, the survey found a strong level of small business trust in the Small Business Administration (SBA), bucking the trend of waning trust in government institutions and pointing to public-private partnerships with the SBA as a potential solution to help Main Street.

Panelists included the CEOs of National ACE, USBC, and USHCC; executives from Wells Fargo, and Paypal; and executives from Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE), a Georgia-based CDFI and the Small Business Administration (SBA).