Industry Intelligence firm’s newest product enhancements and strategic relationships set the stage for success in the coming year.

Raleigh, N.C. – January 11, 2024 – Industry Intelligence leader Vertical IQ is well-positioned to build on 2023’s momentum and growth as they head into the new year. Bolstered by an array of new strategic partnerships and innovative product enhancements, the company will continue its focus on customer experience and targeted new markets as they continue to expand usage of their Industry Intelligence platform.

Enhancements fueled by collaboration, unbiased data

Over the course of 2023, Vertical IQ launched several key product enhancements, which were fueled by acquisition and new partner-relationships. “Each of these strategic collaborations was scoped and brought to fruition with the goal of making Vertical IQ’s Industry Intelligence more actionable and tailored to users’ needs,” explains Vertical IQ CEO and cofounder Bobby Martin.

“Thanks to these strategic alliances we built in 2023, we were able to make several game-changing enhancements to Vertical IQ that can truly move the needle for our current customers and broaden our target market going forward,” says Martin. For example:

    • Localized data
      In May, Vertical IQ acquired Local Market Monitor, which provides timely assessments and forecasts of more than 300 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), 2,000 counties, and 20,000 ZIP codes across the U.S.

While Vertical IQ has previously incorporated the local economic data provided by Local Market Monitor, this acquisition allowed Vertical IQ to better showcase the local economic conditions that drive success for a particular industry at the MSA and even the county level – key drivers such as wages, housing prices, construction, and employment. This localized, microeconomic data also enables bankers and investors to better-analyze real estate values using Local Market Monitor’s stand-alone product that includes its award-winning Equilibrium Home Prices.

    • SBA lending data
      Thanks to a recent partnership with small business data analytics firm Lumos Technologies, Vertical IQ has added key data sets of Small Business Administration (SBA) lending trends and industry performance insights to its platform.

This highly actionable content is particularly valuable to bankers for sizing market competition, analyzing loan conditions on various industry segments, loan assessment, risk profiling and predictive credit modeling.

Tapping into government data and other third party sources, Vertical IQ was able to implement a number of additional site enhancements designed to provide users with even more actionable, unbiased, reliable content. For instance:

    • Enhanced economic data
      Additional Industry Indicators were added to each Industry and Sector Profile. This graphical economic dataset includes as much as 10 years worth of information on employment, wages, pricing, trade, expenditures, inventory, sales, shipments, population projections, housing, mortgage rates, personal income, healthcare spending, and more – all pulled from unbiased government sources.
    • Geographic Breakdown chapter
      Using data sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this new chapter within Industry and Sector Profiles features a breakdown of the industry or sector establishments per state, each state’s percentage of total establishments, and the annual change in establishment count by state. This content highlights how large an industry’s presence is in a state and whether it has expanded or contracted.
    • Expanded industry coverage
      In 2023, Vertical IQ continued to build their already expansive coverage of industries and sectors in the U.S. and Canada. They added numerous new Industry Profiles, now featuring more than 920 industries and covering over 97% of the U.S. economy and Canada, as well as more than 3,400 Local Economies reports. They also added several new Canada-specific Sector Profiles including the Canadian Professional and Technical Services Sector, Canadian Real Estate and Product Rental Sector, and Canadian Finance and Insurance Sector.

Providing Industry Intelligence to new markets

In addition to the acquisition of Local Market Monitor and collaboration with Lumos, Vertical IQ notched several key wins in 2023 that also will help fuel growth in new markets in 2024.

For instance, in February, Vertical IQ was chosen by the America’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) network as its provider of choice for Industry Intelligence, granting Vertical IQ access to nearly all SBDC business counselors in the network of state offices across the country. Vertical IQ’s Industry Profiles, financial data and Local Economic Data can be used to help counsel business owners of all types – from auto parts manufacturers to veterinarians, as well as hundreds of others.

Vertical IQ also expanded their reach into several key industries, inking a deal with one of the nation’s largest insurance carriers, and several new accounting firms/associations.

“These are just a few of the exciting wins we captured in 2023, positioning us to pursue even more segments as we head into this new year,” notes Vertical IQ president David Buffaloe. “We are excited about new partnerships and relationships that are on the horizon that will allow us to continue to enhance our product offering.”

An integral partner on your team

Even as Vertical IQ expands its footprint, Buffaloe emphasizes that they remain mindful that it is not only award-winning Industry Intelligence but renowned customer experience and service that set Vertical IQ above the competition.

“We work closely with our customers to focus on how they can get the most out of actionable Industry Intelligence,” says Buffaloe. “Through a white glove onboarding process and ongoing training opportunities, we show each and every customer that we are there to support their success.”

Start to finish, Heather Sperduto, vice president of Channel Sales, Small Business Services at ADP, was impressed by Vertical IQ’s meticulous sales and service processes. “I like to say that the customer service experience is best when you don’t need it. The term ‘user-friendly’ really permeated all aspects of our experience with Vertical IQ, from our exploration of the product, through our transition, to the onboarding, and for the ultimate rollout and the training. They simplified it in a way that it became very natural for us to be able to embark on utilizing the tool.”

To learn more about Vertical IQ or to request a demo, visit www.verticaliq.com.

ABOUT VERTICAL IQ

Headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., Vertical IQ is a nationally recognized leader in Industry Intelligence. Whether they’re pitching a local brewery or a national biotech company, successful sales, marketing and customer success teams use Vertical IQ to better understand a prospect’s or client’s business challenges before, during and after meetings. Covering more than 97% of the economic revenue in the U.S. and Canada through more than 920 Industry Profiles and 3,400 local economic reports, Vertical IQ equips users with the confidence and credibility to make memorable first impressions and sustain enduring relationships.

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