Good morning and thank you Erica [Duignan, Chair, Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee], as well as the other members of the Committee, for your time and input today.

I especially want to extend a warm welcome to Stacey Bowers, the incoming Director of the Commission’s Small Business Advocate Office.

Director Bowers brings a unique combination of talents: practitioner, scholar, and former Commission staffer. I look forward to working with her to elevate and advance the Commission’s small business priorities.

As highlighted in the Small Business Advocate’s most recent Annual Report, much work remains to be done. Last year, 78 percent of small business owners expressed concerns about their ability to access capital. In 2022, compared to 2020, nearly 4 times more startups failed due to lack of financing or investors.

Venture capital’s reach into disadvantaged communities remains very limited. In 2022, Latino, African-American, and women-only founders each received less than 2 percent of VC dollars. Rural small businesses fared no better.

Many of the small businesses included in these statistics lack access to traditional entrepreneurial ecosystems, or to the friends-and-family networks that can provide access to the capital needed to grow successfully.

Because of the essential role these small businesses play in job creation, in our economy, and in the success of many communities throughout our country, it is essential that they, too, benefit from the Commission’s capital formation tools and resources.

I look forward to continuing a dialogue with this Committee, and with the Small Business Advocate, to learn from your insights about innovative ways of advancing this goal.

Thank you again for your service and for your contributions to today’s discussion.