According to the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners and Self-Employed Persons (SBO, 2012), 2.52 million businesses in the United States were majority-owned by veterans. Of this number, 442,485 veterans were employers, and 2.08 million were non-employers. In fact, 10.3 percent of all owners who...

This is the second in a series of five blog posts about how to create and implement a “SMART” strategy to manage client relationships — one that incorporates personalization and industry expertise into every client interaction. By using this tailored approach, your team will boost your organization’s sales conversion success and deepen...

This is the first in a series of five blog posts about how to create and implement a “SMART” strategy to manage client relationships — one that incorporates personalization and industry expertise into every client interaction. By using this tailored approach, your team will boost your organization’s sales conversion success and deepen...

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) was developed as the standard for use by the U.S. federal government’s statistical agencies, replacing the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system in 1997. Industry-specific NAICS codes are assigned to each business in the country, classifying them for the collection and...

Given recent industry growth and their relatively safe credit risk, optometry practices are a solid niche for business bankers to pursue. Here’s why. There are nearly 20,000 optometry practices with about 37,000 optometrists providing vision care in the United States; together, they earn $14.7 billion in annual revenue.

We all remember the ghostly voice from Field of Dreams telling Ray (Kevin Costner), “If you build it, they will come” as he walked through his Iowa cornfield. This same encouraging message applies to your bank’s use of the Vertical IQ tool. If management supports and encourages business bankers to incorporate industry research using...

There’s no doubt about it: Americans LOVE to eat! And we have the restaurants to prove it. There are approximately 364,000 restaurants in the U.S., which include everything from full-service restaurants, to quick-service restaurants (fast food, snack, and non-alcoholic beverage bars), fast-casual restaurants, grills, buffets, and...

As cold and flu season kicks into high gear around the holidays, a lot of folks find themselves in doctors’ offices. But perhaps you should consider making an appointment to call on these practices to win their banking business! With over 210,000 physician practices operating in the U.S., this may be a “healthy” niche industry for you to...

Look around your office: Every chair, lamp, pen, and coffee mug likely was made using machines. There are around 18,600 machine shops in the U.S. that process various materials from metal to plastic to composites, or that produce custom parts. Some of these companies specialize in a particular process—such as lathing—or in a specific...

Are you a beer aficionado? There’s no doubt that people in the U.S. enjoy knocking back a good brewski with their friends…just watch the ads during any sporting event! But while beer remains the most popular alcoholic drink in the country—accounting for about half of all alcohol sales—it is facing “stiff” competition from wine and liquor.