Small Business Funding in Baltimore

In 2017, the Johns Hopkins University 21st Century Cities Initiative published a report on the capacity of the financing system to support small businesses and startups in Baltimore City. The report covered both venture capital and funding capital flowing to small firms located in Baltimore, documenting $500-600 million in annual investments. Funding from banks is the largest source of financing for Baltimore’s small businesses, responsible for about half of total investments per year.

As a follow-up to the 2017 report, this paper takes a deeper look into the dynamics of bank funding to small businesses in Baltimore City. Our analysis covers the most recently available 10 years of funding and deposit data that banks are required to report to federal regulators (2007-2016).