A Juxtaposition for Small Businesses

Shruti Patel at U.S. Bank says that small businesses, while confident about the future, face many challenges. We also look the ConnectOne-First of Long Island credit marks.

Hello again, Bank Slaters!

I am writing from Atlantic City, where I will moderate two panels (executive recruiting/comp and M&A) at the NEXT Forum hosted by Travillian and Newcleus. I thinking of a new Bank Slate feature while attending the conference — stay tuned.

Next week, I’ll attend the Future Proof Festival in Huntington Beach, Calif., an event that brings together investment advisers, wealth managers and fintechs. Really been looking forward to this event.

Let’s talk about small businesses.

U.S. Bancorp is having a great year when it comes to SBA lending. With fiscal 2023 drawing to a close, the Minneapolis bank is set to climb from 13 to five on the agency’s busiest lenders (closing nearly 2,800 loans with $563 million).

The $680 billion-asset bank just released its annual survey of small businesses, finding that 90% of respondents rate their business as successful. However, those respondents are feeling the impact of macroeconomic stressors such as competition, the economic environment and inflation.

Labor shortages have limited how quickly some businesses have been able to grow, though many are turning to automation and artificial intelligence to do more with less.