We learned this week that a majority of service-sector businesses surveyed by the Institute for Supply Management are feeling positive about business conditions. Those businesses might be referring to any number of factors, like labor availability, input costs or interest rates.

But the big reason why many businesses are more upbeat these days boils down to strong customer demand.

The first half of the year was difficult for Heather Whaling’s PR company, Geben Communication. Whaling said many of her clients were worried about a possible recession.

“Clients were hesitant to sign long-term work, they were opting for shorter-term or smaller projects,” she said.

But that recession never happened.

Now, Whaling said her clients want long-term work and bigger projects.

“It feels like the fear of the recession that was driving the beginning of the year has mostly passed,” she said. “And we’ve entered this new phase of cautious optimism.”

In Baltimore, Steve Chu is feeling better about business conditions, too. He runs a sandwich restaurant called Ekiben. 

He said costs have gone up. But the big factor keeping the business afloat is that his customers have disposable income.

And they want to come in and buy sandwiches.

“We’re lucky — we’re in the food industry and we’re able to help relieve some stress out of a long day,” he said.

Chu said his business conditions will stay good, as long as the job market is strong.