by Admin | Sep 3, 2026 | Business Strategy, Economic Insight, SMB Leadership
This past April, tariff refunds became available to over 300,000 small business importers, opened by U.S. Customs and covering a $166 billion pool of IEEPA payments. Bank of America’s latest Small Business Checkpoint now gives us a first look at how the process...
by Admin | Aug 27, 2026 | Becoming Bankable, Capital Readiness, SMB Leadership
An existing relationship is the single biggest reason small businesses choose a lender, cited by 48% of applicants in Federal Reserve survey data weighted across banks, credit unions, online lenders, finance companies, and CDFIs. Speed of decision and the odds of...
by Admin | Aug 20, 2026 | Business Planning, Business Strategy, Profitability
In a recent report, the Boston Fed found that payment fraud risk is increasing as the number of ways to pay expands. This is attributed to a widening field of digital wallets, peer-to-peer apps, and buy-now-pay-later options, most of them run by fintech companies...
by Admin | Aug 13, 2026 | AI Adoption, Business Strategy, SMB Leadership
According to the latest Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Survey of Business Uncertainty report, personal AI adoption among business executives is accelerating: the share who personally use AI for at least one hour a week climbed from 72% in November 2025 to 84%...
by Admin | Aug 6, 2026 | Becoming Bankable, Business Planning, Business Strategy, SMB Leadership
The International Trade Loan is a variant of the SBA 7(a) loan. It funds facilities and equipment used in the United States to produce goods or services, working capital, and debt refinancing under existing program rules. It carries a 90% SBA guarantee, compared with...
