Don't 'freak,' bank executive tells business owners
by Annie Baxter, Minnesota Public RadioSt. Paul, Minn. — Striking an irreverent tone, the chief executive of US Bank told members of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce Tuesday that they need to snap out of their economic doldrums.
US Bank chief Richard Davis spoke at the chamber's annual meeting, telling business owners they should not "freak" about the fact that economy requires more time to recover from recessions tied to financial crises.
"Things aren't the way they used to be, people aren't doing things the way they used to. Blah blah blah, get over it," Davis said. "I mean, really, like you've never had faith broken before — everything in the world's gone the way it was supposed to, especially in business and economics and politics? Are you serious?"
Davis said the next few years will continue to feel like a recession, but that's not an excuse for business owners to be paralyzed. Even if economic data seem dismal, the numbers will eventually improve, he said.
Annie Baxter
• ReporterAnnie Baxter started her radio trajectory answering the phones at a pledge drive at KQED, San Francisco's NPR member station, and managed to wriggle her way into an internship soon thereafter.
