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businesses can face greater hurdles in accessing credit,211 and many small businesses were already financially fragile at the outset of the pandemic.212 While businesses everywhere faced significant challenges during the pandemic, minority - owned and very small businesses have faced additional obstacles. Between February and April 2020, the number of actively self-employed Black business owners decreased by 41 percent.213 During that same time period, Asian and Latino business owners decreased by 26 and 32 percent, respectively, compared to a 17 percent decrease in white business owners.214 Female business owners also saw significant impacts, with businesses owned by women falling by 25 percent.215 Many of the disparities in how minority business owners experienced the pandemic are rooted in systemic issues present even before the pandemic. For example, before the economic downturn, only 12 percent of Black -owned businesses and 19 percent of Hispanic -owned businesses had annual earnings of over $1 million compared to 31 percent of white -owned businesses.216 Minority -owned businesses were also overrepresented in industries hit hardest by the economic downturn (e.g., services, transportation and warehousing, healthcare and social assistance, administrative and support and waste management, and accommodation and food 211 See, e.g., Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Report to Congress on the Availability of Credit to Small Businesses (Sept. 2017), available at https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2017-september- availability-of-credit-to-small-businesses.htm. 212 Alexander W. Bartik et al., The Impact of COVID-19 on small business outcomes and expectations, PNAS 117(30): 17656-66 (July 28, 2020), available at https://www.pnas.org/content/117/30/17656. 213 Robert Fairlie, The impact of COVID-19 on small business owners: Evidence from the first 3 months after widespread social -distancing restrictions, Journal of economics & management strategy (August 27, 2020), https://doi.org/10.1111/jems.12400. 214 U.S. Small Business Administration, The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Small Businesses (March 2021), https://cdn.advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021 /03/02112318/COVID-19-Impact-On-Small- Business.pdf. 215 Robert Fairlie, supra note 199. 216 Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. 2019. Small Business Credit Survey 2019 Report on Minority -Owned Firms. December. fedsmallbusiness.org/survey/2019/report-on-minority-owned-firms 143