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Many of America's small and mid-sized companies will be acquiring other firms and forming partnerships with larger companies to survive and grow during the next five years, a trend which will affect banks' marketing approaches to these businesses.

A new study from The Conference Board, titled Managing Growth: Smart Strategies for Smaller and MidSized Companies and covering 184 small and mid-sized firms in a wide range of industries, finds that nearly 40% plan to acquire other companies in coming years.

Faced with competitors with greater scale and more clout, smaller firms often have had to choose between trying to buy up other firms, in order to increase market share and compete, or be bought out themselves. Rising numbers of firms are also forming strategic partnerships with larger companies in order to get cheap capital. Almost a quarter of the responding companies said that alliances will be the principal way they will finance their growth.

Surveyed firms say the three major drivers of the growth will be new customers, new products and services, and acquisitions.

About 75% of the firms surveyed sell their goods and services outside the U.S. Many plan to step up their global sales in coming years. Large numbers of smaller firms are already selling their products in Canada, Western Europe and Asia.

"For a mid-sized company, this is a very dangerous period," says Francois de Visscher, a Greenwich, Conn.-based financial consultant and investment banker whose firm works with closely held, mid-sized companies. "If you are a $100 million company, a $500 million, or a $1 billion company, you're not a small business anymore. You've built an infrastructure that's too costly to focus on just one or two niches, but you're not big enough to compete with the 'big boys: You have to either downsize and become a real niche player, which is difficult to do, or grow faster than you ever thought of doing."

CEOs were asked to identify the three management tools and structures they deem most essential for growth in the next five years. Strategic planning emerged as the number one requirement. The number two and number three essentials: a reward system tying compensation to achievement of growth objectives, and a human resources department that can recruit people with the skills required and retrain current staff.

Bankers in Missouri can take comfort in the fact that their new hires in the future will be well grounded in mathematics. Last month, the Missouri Department of Economic Development unveiled the Missouri Mathematics Academy, which plans to overhaul instruction through professional development of math and science teachers.

Experts say the lag in producing top-caliber mathematicians in the U.S. could harm future competitiveness. Also testifying to the need for the Missouri Mathematics Academy, the first program of its kind in the nation, according to the recent K-16 Report on Mathematics in Missouri, the achievement of students in mathematics is not acceptable for today's technological society. The report also revealed what appears to be a disconnect in understanding the relevance of mathematics to today's industry needs.

Banks' corn producer customers can now track their peers' fields as well as their own on the Internet with electronic speed. CornTrak.com, powered by Doane Agricultural Services and fueled by in-field crop consultants, provides weekly snapshots of growing conditions in 11 key Midwestern states.

Consultants are posting their findings after turning their trained eyes to field conditions in 50 U.S. counties. County reports include information on stress levels, insect pressures, diseases and weeds. In addition, Doane's chief economist Rich Pottorif provides his overall corn report each week on CornTrak.com.

The new Internet service provides a weekly state wrap-up as well as an extensive scouting report from each of the 50 sample counties. This service is free, thanks to the sponsorship of Syngenta.

Whether you are involved in trade shows as an attendee, sponsor or vendor, you should be aware that customer attitudes about trade shows have changed due to the turbulent economy. In April 2001, Allen Konopacki, president of the Incomm Center for Research & Sales Training, interviewed senior level executives who attend shows, and asked them how their attitudes have changed.

- 91 % said the economy is not a factor in determining whether they will attend; the major factors are time poverty and the inability to get away from the office.

- 34% said they now visit every other year and hope to catch up with that they missed the previous year.

- 64% said they have changed their attitudes about attending because something at their companies has changed, such as their jobs, a merger or downsizing.

Konopacki said exhibitors should expect:

- Fewer people taking weekend days to visit a show since show visits are on business time, not personal time;

- People not seen in two or three years (intermittent showgoers) and not the same faces year to year;

- People with a limited amount of time that have specific agendas instead of people just cruising the aisles; and

- Fewer on-site decisions made, a more intensive evaluation process, and more cautious buyers.

Konopacki s research finds that in 2001 there may be fewer attendees, but they are generally of higher quality. According to the more savvy show-goers, exhibitors need to first of all use shows as business meetings - not entertainment.