As small and middle market businesses seek to capitalize on a post-COVID bounceback, new survey research from Umpqua Bank shows that the business outlook is positive as firms have made substantial changes to respond to COVID. On the final episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast’s fourth season, Umpqua Bank EVP Richard Cabrera joins to discuss the survey findings and how banks can respond to changing needs of small and middle market firms.

Among other things, Cabrera discusses:

• The growth in inventory financing needs as businesses have restocked and sought to build bigger inventories to avoid supply chain challenges.
• Why middle market firms are more likely than smaller businesses to have made changes in response to the pandemic.
• The role of supply chain woes in inflation — and why wage increases might contribute to more persistent inflation rates.
• How Umpqua Bank has pivoted to meet the changing post-COVID needs of commercial clients.