This fact sheet based on data by Robert Fairlie and released by the Insight Center for Community Economic Development shows that across the United States, businesses owned by Black, Latinx, and Asian people have closed down at an alarming rate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent estimates, for example, show that 40 percent of the revenues of Black-owned businesses are more likely to be in sectors most impacted by the pandemic including leisure, hospitality and retail. Between February and April of 2020, more than 3 million small businesses closed dow n across the county. Businesses owned by people of color, women, and immigrants were most severely harmed, closing down faster than the national average. White owned businesses have closed down at a much slower rate, the only group to see a smaller share of businesses close than the national average.

Small businesses serve vital roles in our economy, particularly for people who are denied opportunities by employers and the job market. For Black and Brown people, small businesses are often the only pathway to economic security and/or a job where their dignity stays intact. As federal and state governments work to address the economic fallout of the pandemic, they must center businesses owned by people of color and women to ensure they are able to survive during and after the pandemic.

Click here to read and download the full fact sheet (PDF).