Survey to find out the mood of Memphis consumers
Paragon Bank will launch an annual survey that measures consumer sentiment in Memphis.
The East Memphis bank will host a conference next month aimed at small business owners who want to explore the results of the first survey.
The results are being prepared by University of Memphis researchers commissioned by the bank to survey about 1,000 residents in Shelby County and DeSoto County. The two adjacent counties are home to about 1.1 million of the 1.34 million people living in metropolitan Memphis.
Paragon’s survey would be the region’s first regular gauge of consumer spending patterns and outlook about the near future. It would parallel national measures such as the Conference Board and University of Michigan consumer surveys. Officials at U of M’s Sparks Bureau of Business and Economic Research are conducting the survey and evaluating the data.
“We do know of a few organizations around the country that do this on a regular basis,” said Michael Edwards, Paragon president. “We said we thought this could be of value in the Mid-South. It’s really aimed at the small business owner, which is the bread and butter of the Mid-South. It’s meant to help small businesses as they make decisions on investing and expanding and hiring.”
The bank will host the Outlook 2018 Paragon Economic Summit to release the first survey’s results. The session is free to those who register online at
https://bankparagon.com/resultsevent/ or call 901-322-0602. The session is scheduled to begin 4 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Memphis Botanic Garden.
Paragon is taking on the survey at considerable expense and intends to follow through every year with Sparks Bureau to build a database on consumer sentiment, Edwards said. He declined to disclose the survey cost or the budget associated with hosting a crowd at the Botanic Garden and serving cocktails.
“We think this would be really good for small business, to help them. It fits our mission,’’ said Robert Shaw Jr., the bank’s chief executive officer.
Years ago, major banks in Memphis often took on large projects such as community surveys. As the big banks were acquired or looked outside Memphis for new business, smaller banks have opened and stepped in with community endeavors.
Paragon, established in 2005, ranks No. 8 in size among the 23 banks based in metropolitan Memphis. Seated on its board of directors are several wellknown Memphis business executives. They include Napoleon Cassibry III of Vining Sparks; Mary H. McDaniel, formerly with FedEx; John T. Novarese Jr. of Addison Capital; Rudi Scheidt Jr. of Commissum Capital Management; and Craig Weiss of Tower Ventures.
Edwards joined Paragon in 2011 after heading the Mid-South market for Memphis-based First Tennessee Bank, the state’s largest homegrown bank. First Tennessee assets currently total $40.8 billion following the acquisition last year of Capital Bank Financial Corp. of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Paragon, which operates loan offices in Atlanta, Denver and Oxford, Mississippi, reported assets that totaled $395.3 million last year. The amount includes $317.7 million worth of loans, including $225.6 million in real estate loans and $75.4 million in commercial and industrial loans, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reported.
Real estate loans can include business loans based on property and equipment.
In the quarter ended March 31, Paragon’s Memphis operation showed record income while after-tax income for the entire bank declined to $486.5 million from $657.7 million a year earlier, the bank said.
Fewer U.S. Small Business Administration loans were sold by Paragon’s Small Business Capital Group, leading to the decline, the bank said. Also, nonperforming assets rose by $1 million to $2.3 million.
“We are confident we will hit our targets for the full year,” the bank says in a letter to shareholders.
Paragon stock traded Thursday morning for $11.20 per share, up 5 cents from Wednesday’s close and up from $9.35 a year ago.