As we’ve noted in past posts, the US is in the midst of a “great ownership transfer,” where as many as 6 million US small businesses will (hopefully) transfer ownership to next generation owners, operators, and entrepreneurs.  Given the magnitude of this transition (exceeding $5 billion in value), it behooves to better understand what’s happening.  And, thankfully, the Purdue University-based North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, which serves the US’s Upper Midwest regions, is here to help.   

A new NCRCRD research report, from Renee D. Wiatt, assesses the ownership transition in the NCRCRD region. The report reviews survey data on how more than 1200 Midwestern small business owners, including farms and non-farm businesses, are preparing for the transition.  Overall, only 38% of firms have a succession plan in place, and most of these owners (44%) hope to pass their business to other family members.   However, they also recognize that these plans may not come to fruition—only 40% of these owners expect their family succession plans to succeed.

These findings suggest several important new policy directions.  First, efforts to expand succession planning are needed.  We need more owners getting serious about business transitions.  We’ll also need to develop more customized solutions for these firms.  When and where possible, owners should get support for passing businesses within the family.  If such options don’t exist, owners will need more support to connect with potential business successors.  Addressing these issues now will make ease the transition process and ensure that wealth can remain in families, businesses, and communities where it was first generated.

We’ve seen recent releases of interesting new small business finance data from “both sides of the pond” as they used to say.  Here in the US, we’re noting the Federal Reserve’s most recent 2026 Small Business Credit Report on Employer Firms.  Meanwhile, the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released its annual Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2026 Scorecard.  

Both reports are full of useful information, but we’ll focus here on what they tell us about the current global state of small business finance. The high-level trends in both reports are somewhat similar.  Overall firm performance is stagnant or showing slight improvements, and finance opportunities are improving yet remain more expensive and more challenging to access when compared to pre-pandemic era patterns.  Both surveys found that many firms are actively using AI tools, and also project that AI tools may help improve financing options in the future.

In the US, the Fed survey finds that business expectations remain somewhat gloomy, with firms projecting low job and revenue growth in the coming year.  The biggest pressures on small business relate to reaching customers and increasing sales, but rising costs, including tariffs, were also cited as a major concern.

The OECD Scorecard offers a similarly sober take, with declining lending rates and higher finance costs, especially for the smallest firms.  In addition, fears of rising costs are growing, especially for businesses operating in the Middle East and other areas facing the current energy crunch.