Recently a colleague of mine sent me a link to a study recently published by Deloitte. She thought I might find it of interest because it was based on a survey earlier this year of middle-market business owners. Given that this publication is dedicated to developing a dialogue with this group, I certainly was interested.

In February of 2011, Deloitte in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) conducted a survey of over 500 private and public middle-market companies in the U.S. The survey was quite comprehensive covering a wide range of topics, including questions about pre- and post-recession metrics, growth plans, and the general outlook regarding the future of the companies and the economy. The findings were quite compelling.

Many of you are aware of just how vital the U.S. middle market is to the engine of our economy. According to the EIU, the middle market generates $6.1 trillion in revenue (this survey included companies with revenues from $50 million to $1 billion), which is about 40% of the entire U.S. GDP. In addition, this group employs 24.6 million people. So the middle market is possibly the most important component of our economic health. [Read more…]