Blogs

Expectations for the future of the economy were for slower growth over the next six months due to uncertainty around the upcoming election, domestic policy, geopolitical conflict and inflation. As your local bank, we look forward to providing insight and helping decision makers manage their businesses with confidence. After conducting compelling research and interviews with subject matter experts, Financial Feed covers valuable insights on the economy, business strategies, and more. In it, you’ll discover: The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book breakdown of market conditions Expert commentary on...

By: Paul Dickson, Director of Research and Giri Krishnan, Senior Portfolio Manager Is the check engine light flickering? Economic data has become more mixed with signs of both growth and fragility. If the Fed wants to engineer a “soft-landing,” or perhaps even the elusive “no-landing” scenario we discussed last quarter, it will have to start cutting interest rates sooner rather than later. We look to the September Fed Meeting as the start of a series of rate cuts. The classic description of the Federal Reserve’s job (the Fed) is to know when to remove the punchbowl from the party. The...

The professional services sector is a critical component of economic development and productivity. The skills and knowledge of specialized professionals drive innovation and keep daily operations on track across multiple markets. We often assume professional services are safe from fluctuating economic variables—but the truth is, unfortunately, more complex. There are ongoing challenges that plague those working in professional services, and these issues are posing a notable threat to the viability of even the most skilled professionals. By facing these issues head-on and addressing them before...

You’ve invested countless long, hard hours in building a stable, profitable business with a bright future. But negative economic forces can strike at any time, destabilizing your finances and possibly even endangering the survival of your business. This is one of the main reasons it’s so important to build and maintain healthy cash reserves. Cash reserves serve many important purposes including helping business owners meet unexpected expenses while also stabilizing cash flow and easing overall financial stress. This guide to cash reserves explains why it’s so important for a business to have...

A year ago, a headline “The Recession of 2023 might surprise everyone” would have been prescient simply because it didn’t happen. On the contrary, last year showed surprising resilience and a pace of growth no one expected, despite forecasts of a slowdown or recession by most economists. 2023 was supposed to have been the year in which the economy succumbed to the sharpest increase in interest rates in four decades; tightening lending standards by the banks; and the end of pandemic-era government spending. Accumulated savings from Covid-related shutdowns and receipts of stimulus checks were...