Episode summary
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily: Make Your Move Summit (Podcast)
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Stevie Baron, Katie Kirkpatrick, Leslie Wims Morris, Reggie Washington
Summary
The episode centers on small-business conditions in a more cautious economy and what JPMorgan Chase says it is doing to support growth at its Make Your Move Summit in Atlanta. The host opens with the latest U.S. small business optimism reading, which fell to a three-month low, driven by inflation, higher energy costs, and uncertainty tied to geopolitics and consumer strain.
A Chase executive argues that the mood is mixed: small business owners are nervous about the economy, but remain relatively positive about their own firms, with roughly 60% optimistic about their business and only about 30% about the broader economy. He says Chase is focusing on education, coaching, access to capital, payroll, invoicing, analytics, and AI awareness, while describing small businesses as resilient and central to GDP and hiring.
Other guests broaden the picture. Atlanta’s chamber leader highlights the region’s business climate, talent base, and infrastructure needs, while the auto finance executive says vehicle affordability remains stretched even as demand is resilient. A restaurant operator says inflation, changing eating habits, and the shift toward healthier and grab-and-go formats are forcing operators to adapt.
Key takeaways
- The host says U.S. small business optimism fell to a three-month low in September as inflation, energy costs, and geopolitical tensions weighed on sentiment.
- The Chase executive says about 60% of small business owners feel optimistic about their own businesses, but only about 30% feel that way about the economy.
- The Chase executive says small businesses represent 45% of U.S. GDP and account for two out of every three new hires in the country.
- The Atlanta chamber leader says Georgia’s business climate ranking and transit and talent access are key reasons companies choose metro Atlanta.
- The auto finance executive says average new-vehicle prices are about $50,000 and 18% of car payments are now over $1,000 a month.
- The restaurateur says inflation, GLP-1 use, and demand for healthier food and nonalcoholic drinks are changing restaurant economics.
Notable quotes
“small business owners are actually very positive about their individual business and the likelihood that they're going to continue to grow, succeed, um, and invest in their business across the board, up their own business”
“So about 60% of them are excited about where their businesses are heading, and they're very optimistic”
“small businesses represent 45% of the GDP of the US economy. So how small business owners are doing is how the economy is going to do”
“The average vehicle prices are now $50,000 for a new vehicle. And in addition to the stats that you shared, you now have 18% of car payments are now over $1,000 a month”
“it is very challenging. But, um, you know, the biggest thing is just to try to figure out how to navigate, you know, with people eating less, eating more healthy, clean”
How the episode opens
This is Bloomberg Businessweek daily reporting from the magazine that helps global leaders stay ahead with insight on the people, companies, and trends shaping today's complex economy, plus global business, finance and tech news as it happens. The Bloomberg Businessweek daily podcast with Carol Massar and Tim Stanback. Hey, one thing we want to talk about is obviously the small business community.
We did get a read on US small business optimism falling to a three month low in September. A lot of what is concerning small businesses, Tim, is inflation, higher energy prices. It matters.
It's not just that. I mean, it also has to do with, uh, the way the consumer is feeling potentially strapped in this economy. Right.
The questions about, you know, how long this geopolitical tensions will continue, not just in the Middle East, but also Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And, you know, we talk about it a lot in the context of economic data, but small business owners are thinking about it, too. Yeah.
And so too is Steve Barron. He is the CEO of Chase for business. Here at Make Your Move Summit in Georgia.
Uh, and of course, it is hosted by the JPMorgan Chase team. But we caught up with him a little bit earlier. Here's what he had to say.
First of all, we're here in Blantyre. This is pretty cool, actually. Outside of land.
Yes. Tell us about this event and what it's all about. Your fourth year?
Yes. It's our fourth year that we're at the Make Your Move summit, which brings together close to 1000 small business owners. Uh, and it's an opportunity, first of all, for them to learn from each other and to talk about all the things you just talked about in terms of how they're investing in their business, the state of the economy, the resiliency plans that they have.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- small business optimism
- economic sentiment
- business expansion plans
- jpmorganchase small business outlook
- atlanta small business
Companies and tickers mentioned
- JPM
- JPMorganChase
- SONAT Hospitality Group
- Southern National Restaurant
Watch the episode
Watch “Bloomberg Businessweek Daily: Make Your Move Summit (Podcast)” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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