LOS ANGELES, March 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- 1st Century
Bank, a division of MidFirst Bank, today released the inaugural
edition of the new research series "Los Angeles Small Business
Attitudes" in partnership with Beacon Economics. Overall, the study
shows tremendous optimism and expected growth for small businesses
in Los Angeles across numerous
industries for the next six months.
Small companies are drivers of ingenuity and progression, yet
within the economic sector, their contributions are often
overlooked. The media relies largely on macro data — primarily
gross domestic product and the Standard & Poor's 500 — to gauge
the health of the U.S. economy. However, a review of small
businesses can reveal distinctive insights. Small companies can be,
the most fragile businesses — fighting for market share, funding,
sales and profits, while balancing the costs of payrolls and new
technology to stay competitive.
The full report is available at 1cbank.com/research.
Some key findings:
- 78 percent of respondents are expecting increase market
demand.
- 54 percent of respondents reported increased margins in the
past six months, and 79.3 percent of respondents said they believe
margins will increase in the future.
- 56 percent of respondents reported increased sales in the past
six months, and 70.7 percent said they expect sales to increase in
the next six months.
"Small businesses are an enormously important part of the
economy, whether in a major metropolis like Los Angeles or just about any sized market
across the nation," said Adam
Fowler, research director at Beacon Economics. "The owners
and operators of these businesses have their fingers directly on
the pulse of key business and economic trends, but they also have
specific concerns that often aren't captured in the headlines, and
this is a serious omission. If we don't understand small-business
sentiment, we can't know the direction this important sector will
be heading in that future nor can we improve conditions for their
success."
"As a bank supporting small businesses, we are motivated to
understand the overall sentiment of the markets we serve while also
providing trend insight to the business community at large. We are
pleased to share this report to the small business community of
Los Angeles and confident this
information will be of value to business owners," said Jason DiNapoli, CEO and President 1st Century
Bank.
1st Century Bank is a division of MidFirst Bank, one of the
nation's largest privately held financial institutions. This
combination of private ownership, a strong capital base and local
market focus and expertise, allows 1st Century Bank to provide
greater scale and opportunity for its clientele. 1st Century Bank's
exceptional service model provides the flexible, local
decision-making that has distinguished it in the Los Angeles market.
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SOURCE 1st Century Bank