Notwithstanding ongoing challenges with the labor shortage and lingering COVID fears, small businesses are generally more optimistic about the future now than they were a year ago, although access to capital is keeping many awake nights. According to a national survey a few weeks ago of 2,140 small business owners by Goldman Sachs, 84% said they were open for business now versus the 39% that were open last year at this time. Further, 89% feel confident about the future whereas on 68% felt that way one year ago. On the downside, 77% of the respondents expect to have exhausted all Paycheck Protection Program funding by the end of June and only 26% believe they’ll be able to maintain payroll without additional relief.