Chris Latham

Persistently high inflation may present some headwinds for U.S. consumers gearing up for summer 2024, but many Americans are still booking vacations, as well as buying tickets to music festivals and major sports events.

Who needs financial literacy? According to companies across a wide range of sectors, nearly everyone in America. That’s why different businesses have launched financial literacy campaigns aimed at employees, customers, students, and social media users. Hip-hop star T-Pain has even gotten in on the act. Corporations may see financial literacy initiatives as a way to conduct public relations for their own brands, but the data suggests it’s a worthy effort.

Includes a diverse range of exclusive perspectives from Stephens senior bankers.

Last summer, This Is Capitalism explored The Business of BBQ for the first time. This summer we revisit the topic and spotlight a new set of organizations, each of which operate at different points across the barbecue value chain. Over the past year, their priorities have shifted from navigating the pandemic to staying on top of soaring costs.

Includes a diverse range of exclusive perspectives from Stephens senior bankers.

Companies are struggling to find enough workers to fill the 9.6 million job vacancies in the U.S. across a diverse spectrum of industries, even as 7.4 million people remain unemployed. Those recent figures, from the St. Louis Federal Reserve and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics respectively, point to one of the biggest conundrums of the economic recovery that has followed the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. What exactly does it take to recruit and retain top talent these days?

Includes a diverse range of exclusive perspectives from Stephens senior bankers.

As consumers get more comfortable with online payments, businesses of all types and sizes are implementing them. The proliferation of these new systems presents significant opportunities and challenges for fintech providers, the businesses that increasingly rely on their tools, and traditional payments services that almost all digital transactions still depend upon.

Includes a diverse range of exclusive perspectives from Stephens senior bankers.

Even as COVID-19 vaccines proliferate and businesses seek to coax employees back into office buildings, it seems likely that working from home will persist in some form for millions of people who log on remotely almost every day. Pandemic or not, there is a certain convenience to being able to stay home and avoid that daily commute to the office. Many firms are responding by investing in cloud infrastructure, the internet-based computing technology.

If a company that is active in the philanthropic space strives to get more out of it than a good photo opp, that business should take special care to partner with nonprofit organizations whose mission reflects the firm’s values and whose initiatives demonstrate measurable results. One such organization is the All Stars Project (ASP), which uses performance-based “Afterschool Development” initiatives.

Businesses that engage in philanthropy get more out of it than good PR. They receive the benefit of operating in healthier, happier, and more interconnected communities. Here we spotlight four very different businesses that are contributing to the public good.

Successful small and midsize companies of the modern economy — characterized by technological disruption and Millennial workers who came of age during the financial crisis — can benefit from a more versatile hiring strategy.

Lenders Can Login Anywhere Anytime, View Key Metrics Including Details on the Advisor Applicants and Requested Loans, Then Pursue the Full Credit Memorandum