Moneda Moves (169): SBA Admin Guzman On How Latinos Tap Into $3.4T Purchasing Power & Affirmative Action
On the final episode of Moneda Moves for 2023, we are speaking with Isabel Casillas Guzman, the 27th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
"Everyone is trying to figure out how to target the Latino market," she says. "(Latinos) have an advantage in knowing what the needs and the wants are of this community at scale."
When it comes to speaking about the Latino purchasing power, she’s absolutely right.
Most want a piece Latino market, and it’s a matter of how they can get to it. It’s the $3.4 trillion question — that’s our purchasing power, according to the Latino Donor Collaborative. For this reason among many others, major brands from Netflix to Walmart to Target want to access Latinos. We’re growing and here to stay.
And while we have all this purchasing power, one of the big issues we face as prominent business owners is access to capital. Earlier this year, we learned that the agency topped $3 billion in SBA-backed loans to Latino-owned small businesses, increasing more than 30% since 2017 (nearly double since 2020).
In today’s interview, we discuss how the SBA is helping get Latino business owners access to loans, how we tap into our own purchasing power and how the Supreme’s Courts ruling on affirmative action will impact small business owners. We also explore how the SBA responded when the ruling impacted a program of its own, helping nearly 5,000 disadvantaged small businesses secure coveted government contracts.
Thank you to all of our Moneda Moves listeners who follow us throughout 2023. No te lo quieres perder. Listen here.
Con poder,
Lyanne
Thank you for joining us! Until next time, catch us here on Moneda Moves.