Middle market and small business executives show an overwhelmingly positive attitude toward the performance of their own companies in the year ahead, fueling plans for growth. The 2016 Business Leaders Outlook—a new report to be released on Tuesday, April 12 by Chase —surveyed 1,394 senior executives from the middle market, as well as 950 small business owners and decision makers, and found that most have a neutral or optimistic outlook toward the local and national economies, while they expressed greater levels of pessimism when it comes to the global economy.
However, despite increased global pessimism year over year, middle market businesses still project international growth. Among respondents who are currently globally active (60 percent), seven out of 10 (70 percent) expect their overseas sales to increase in the next five years.
Small businesses are focused on expansion within the US—25 percent expect to increase the number of full-time employees, 31 percent expect to increase the number of part-time employees and 36 percent expect to increase employee compensation in the coming year.
