Creators are finally getting an official Small Business Association classification, making it much easier for them to access loans, grants, and more

For the very first time, the U.S. Small Business Association has issued digital content creators a classification, making it much easier for them to access SBA-backed loans, grants, and other support.

The Creators Guild of America, which worked with the SBA to secure this classification, says creators have long qualified for the association’s support, but “lacked clear guidance on the NAICS code that best reflects their integrated business models.”

“Because today’s creators often produce, edit, distribute, market, and monetize original audiovisual content across multiple platforms and revenue streams,” many creators found it difficult to get through the paperwork and approval processes required for things like loans and grants that can help grow their businesses.

With this update, all creator-led businesses are officially classified under NAICS 5121, aka Motion Picture and Video Industries.

The CGA says this classification now covers “filmmakers, video producers, podcasters, streamers, gamers, digital publishers, social-media entrepreneurs, creative agencies, and other businesses that produce and distribute original audiovisual content” both on the internet and off.

“America’s creators are entrepreneurs who build businesses from original ideas, unique audiences, and content into thriving small businesses that create jobs,” Kelly Loeffler, the SBA administrator, said in a statement. “For the first time, the SBA is recognizing these enterprising content creators within our small-business framework. This historic guidance cuts through outdated classifications and gives qualifying creators greater clarity as they build businesses, create jobs, and compete and build for the future.”

Daniel Abas, founder and President of the CGA, said “millions of creators stand to benefit” from this decision.

“We look forward to our members taking full advantage of the access to capital that the SBA’s guidance provides, and are proud that the professional infrastructure established by the CGA has contributed to this outcome,” he added.

He noted that creators like Shira Lazar (founder of Creators 4 Mental Health and a member of the CGA’s advisory board) and Avi Gandhi, the CGA’s Chair of Government Advocacy, “played instrumental roles in advancing this effort,” and “[t]his breakthrough is both a testament to their hard work, and a major step forward in the CGA’s mission to help creators.”

TikTok was also involved: its Head of Public Policy, Nicole Nason, said the SBA’s decision is a “historic guidance” that “places the SBA at the forefront of the creator economy and establishes clear pathways for modern entrepreneurs to expand their reach, create jobs, and fuel local economies.”

It’s difficult to overstate how important the SBA’s move could be for content creators. We’re in a weird period of tanking economy and fast-growing industry, where creators (like everyone else) are stressed by rising costs of living, but also in a good position, culturally, to push forward if they see opportunities.

These two forces are at odds, and without business-specific loans/grants/etc, chasing opportunities can be difficult or impossible for cash-strapped creators.

We’ve seen a few independent companies pop up with the explicit purpose of supplying creators liquid cash injections to fund their upcoming projects (often in exchange for back-catalog licensing rights and/or a share in future profits), but getting help from a longstanding, regulated organization like the SBA could allow creators truly sturdy footholds as they build their content empires–or simply get to a place where they can pay themselves and their teams a dependable living wage.