Nationwide in the U.S. over the past 15 years, small businesses generated 64 percent of the net new job growth. Small businesses with fewer than 500 employees, a definition used by the Small Business Administration (SBA), represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms, and employ more than half of...

In October 2012, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the Michigan Bankers Association and the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan co-sponsored a symposium in Detroit that brought together business experts, business owners, policymakers, funders and bankers to explore issues around...

Addressing the Financing Needs of Small Businesses is a Federal Reserve System initiative designed to inform policymakers on the issues that restrict the flow of credit and opportunities to improve the flow of credit to small businesses. A widely held view among policymakers and other observers...

The Chicago Fed has had a longstanding interest in the work of community development financial institutions (CDFI) and the evolution of the development finance industry. In this edition of Profitwise News and Views, we provide overviews of two conferences that addressed ways the industry is...