Bank of America’s Sharon Miller says competitors recognize business owners as a fountain of leads for cross-selling opportunities and are chasing that business, too.

Competition for small-business banker hires has ramped up over the past 18 months, something Bank of America’s Sharon Miller attributes to the plethora of opportunity entrepreneurs offer.

“When I look at the openings for jobs in this space at some of our major competitors, they’re up over 105% versus this time last year,” Miller, BofA’s president of business banking, said during a recent interview.

That’s because large banks see business owners as a fountain of leads, from the ability to serve their business, personal banking and potentially wealth needs, to handling workplace benefits and serving their employees. And many have expressed intentions to grow in this area, from Wells Fargo to U.S. Bank to Capital One.

“Other banks are figuring that out,” Miller said. “People are after this space, it’s a competitive marketplace. And we’re doing what we can to attract new talent and retain our own.”

That includes developing talent from within. Business solutions advisers in the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender’s branches are trained to assist business owners and often make strong relationship manager hires, she said.

“Where we can hire someone that already knows our systems, that knows how we operate and can move into working with larger and larger clients, that’s a good thing for us,” Miller said.

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