PRESS RELEASES

Pepperdine Private Capital Market Project Research Conducted in Partnership with Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. Release Findings from Survey of 3,118 Private Businesses

LOS ANGELES–Only 33% of privately-held businesses owners support raising the debt ceiling this year, while 45% say the government should never raise the limit, according to survey results released in the 2012 Economic Forecast conducted by Pepperdine University’s Private Capital Markets Project and Graziadio School of Business and Management in partnership with Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. The report comes as the nation’s legislators grapple with the President’s request to increase the debt ceiling by an additional $1.2 trillion and today’s vote in the House.

Download forecast: http://bschool.pepperdine.edu/2012economicforecast

In the survey conducted over the first two weeks of the New Year, 23% of the 3,118 small and medium privately-held businesses that responded support a debt limit increase in the first half of 2012 and 10% support an increase in the second half of 2012. Looking further in the future, 9% of respondents favored 2013, 4% indicated 2014, only 2% 2015 and 7% favored 2016 as the earliest they could support an increase to the debt ceiling. continue

PRESS RELEASES

LOS ANGELES–Executives and managers are invited to enroll in non-degree certificate programs centered on strategic corporate social responsibility (CSR) and creative problem solving, as well as travel to Japan for an immersive experience in the country’s sustainable business practices. Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management announces its Spring 2012 portfolio of new executive education offerings. Courses are taught by MBA-level faculty, addressing the latest best practices and current issues facing business leaders, and designed to advance learning that can be immediately applied to enhance the success of organizations. continue

PRESS RELEASES

Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business and Management and Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. to Collaborate on Research Regarding Access to Capital for Private Businesses and National Economic Forecasts

LOS ANGELES–Pepperdine University’s Private Capital Markets Project and Graziadio School of Business and Management announces a national partnership with Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. focused on the development of research on the national economy as well as private capital access for small and medium sized businesses.

The first part of the partnership between both organizations will involve a national annual economic forecast. This represents the continuation of ongoing research by Dr. John K. Paglia, lead researcher for the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project and an associate professor of finance at the Graziadio School. Dr. Paglia’s previous economic forecast analysis has predicted GDP and employment trends with greater accuracy than research from the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Congressional Budget Office and the White House.

“We expect to give small and medium size business owners in every community in the country an opportunity to share their challenges and successes in finding capital from a variety of sources and then benefit from the aggregate data,” added Pepperdine’s John Paglia. continue

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- Pepperdine Releases California Supplement to Access-to-Capital Report and Its Survey Conducted in Cooperation with Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp.

LOS ANGELES — Report released today from the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project at the Graziadio School of Business and Management find that 90% of the 1,958 privately-held businesses in California surveyed have enthusiasm to execute growth strategies but only 44% of respondents report having the resources to do so; namely savings, funds from investors, bank loans or credit lines.

Research results can be found in a new California Supplement to the Project’s recent State of Small Business Report available at http://bschool.pepperdine.edu/californiasmallbiz2011. The supplement compiles state-specific data from a national survey of 10,637 privately-held businesses conducted with the cooperation of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. in Fall 2011.

Without savings, California businesses are looking to secure outside funding but are experiencing little success. Nearly 4 out of 10 respondents (37%) attempted to raise capital in the past 12 months through bank loans and credit cards (49%) or friends and family (18%). Despite these efforts less than half (41%) of the 523 private businesses looking for capital were successful. continue

PRESS RELEASES

Private Funding Available for Large Companies, but Few Qualify

LOS ANGELES – Results released today from the Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project, an ongoing research study at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management, highlight the discrepancy in capital available for large and small privately-held U.S. firms. While investment funds are available for large private firms – which are typically perceived as less risky for investors – investment bankers and private equity firms reported that there are few small private companies that meet their criteria for investment.

The new Capital Markets 2011-2012 Report, investigating the current state of access to capital across eleven market segments, is available for download at http://bschool.pepperdine.edu/capitalmarkets2012. continue