The National Center for the Middle Market

Last week, the NCMM team attended an OSU Fisher Alumni event and the Middle Market Forum hosted by The Greater Cleveland Partnership.

NCMM Managing Director Doug Farren moderated a panel discussion on digital transformation in the middle market with Tonny Manna '83 and Jeff Culliton.

At the GCP Middle Market Forum, Doug gave an update on the current state of the middle market and shared insight into the future of the market that moves America.

John Drake shares his expert perspective on the marketing advantage that middle market companies have and his advice on how to make your company's advertising stand out. Read more here:

Expert Insights On Improving Advertising Performance For Mid-Size Companies John Drake has spent 27 years working in advertising agencies, primarily in strategy-driven roles. After many years of working with some of the largest brands in the US, he now specializes in growing middle market brands. John is a registered judge of creative effectiveness for the American Marketin...

On June 28th, Managing Director Doug Farren will speak at a Google Cloud webinar on bringing AI-readiness to retail, healthcare, financial services and manufacturing. Click the link below for more information and to register.

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NCMM Managing Director Doug Farren shares challenges and lessons learned over the last three years and powerful insights into the middle market. "...if the middle market were its country, it would represent the world's fifth-largest economy... U.S. middle market companies fuel the nation through outsized contributions to GDP and private sector job growth." Read more here:

Learnings from 3 Challenging Years The tremendous challenges of the past three years underscore the importance of the middle market like never before. Between 2020 and 2022, the center had unique opportunities to explore the middle market under its most challenging conditions, gaining new perspective into this critical economic segme...

Join us on June 15th at Corporate College East for the Greater Cleveland Partnership's Middle Market Forum! NCMM Managing Director Doug Farren and keynote speaker Kristi Chambers will share insight on the current state of the middle market as well as how to achieve greater success and entrepreneurial freedom. Click the link below to register.

Middle Market Forum | Expanding Your Entrepreneurial Freedom - Greater Cleveland Partnership LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Explore the event June 15 | Corporate College East Calling all entrepreneurs and business leaders! Your time, energy and results are constantly in high demand. But how … Middle Market Forum | Expanding Your Entrepreneurial Freedom Read More »

Join us on June 15th at Corporate College East for the Greater Cleveland Partnership's Middle Market Forum! NCMM Managing Director Doug Farren and keynote speaker Kristi Chambers will share insight on achieving greater success and true entrepreneurial freedom in the middle market. Click the link below to register.

Middle Market Forum | Expanding Your Entrepreneurial Freedom - Greater Cleveland Partnership LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Explore the event June 15 | Corporate College East Calling all entrepreneurs and business leaders! Your time, energy and results are constantly in high demand. But how … Middle Market Forum | Expanding Your Entrepreneurial Freedom Read More »

Our latest company spotlight features CIS Group, a middle market and NCMM member company that provides superior, low-cost field operations services and data collection for insurance carriers and finance companies. Learn more about how CIS Group transformed from a small business into the most extensive provider of insurance underwriting field and appraisal services nationwide.

CIS Group CIS Group empowers insurance carriers and finance companies with superior field operations and data collection. With a track record of conducting over 55 million property inspections and claims across the United States, CIS Group presently caters to most major property and casualty insurance compani...

In this week's episode of The Market That Moves America podcast, we sat down with Leigh Radtke, Vice President of North America Product at Visa Business Solutions. Learn how middle market businesses can capitalize on digital solutions to maximize business performance. Listen here: http://ow.ly/j45w50OwRWM

The Market That Moves America Podcast: Mid-Market Growth & Strategies Subscribe to The Market That Moves America podcast, which explores relevant issues and covers middle market trends, strategies, challenges, and opportunities.

Check out the latest episode of the Everything Thought Leadership video + podcast series. NCMM's Managing Director, Doug Farren, shares valuable insights on middle market companies, including data analysis and key findings from our latest research reports.

Watch or listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k512FPuTZjM

Everything Thought Leadership – Doug Farren: Rise of an Influential Think-Tank on Midsized Companies Doug Farren is the quintessential thought leader on the middle market, having founded the National Center for the Middle Market: a research institute helmed ...

Check out this unique opportunity to work alongside NCMM! As a member of the Office of Marketing and Communications at Fisher College of Business, this specialist will manage marketing and communications efforts on behalf of the National Center for the Middle Market and the Office of Advancement, focusing on fundraising and stewardship.

Learn more and apply here:

Marketing and Communications Specialist (Hybrid) Screen reader users may encounter difficulty with this site. For assistance with applying, please contact [email protected]. If you have questions while submitting an application, please review these frequently asked questions. Current Employees and Students: If you are currently empl...

“Digital transformation has increasingly been a strategic differentiator for middle market businesses, and, as this research illustrates, cloud technology plays a key factor in their ability to transform.” - Doug Farren, NCMM Managing Director

Learn more about our recent cloud technology research report in collaboration with Google Cloud in this news article by The Ohio State University:

Midsize companies see benefits, risks of cloud technology, study finds A new collaborative research project by The Ohio State University’s National Center for the Middle Market (NCMM) and Google Cloud coincides with Google’s recent announcement that the company is building two more data centers in central Ohio, enhancing the region’s reputation as “Silicon Hear...

NCMM's Managing Director, Doug Farren, will speak at Mergers and Acquisition Forum's upcoming virtual May Luncheon on Tuesday, May 23. Doug will provide an update on the state of the middle market, highlighting NCMM's most recent research. The event is open to the public for a small fee.
Register here:

M&A Forum - May Monthly Luncheon

Check out Association for Corporate Growth (ACG)'s latest episode of GrowthTV, which featured NCMM's cloud technology research report, in collaboration with Google Cloud. The video dives into the connection between middle-market businesses that have adopted the cloud and those experiencing rapid growth.

Finding Middle-Market Growth Within the Cloud | Middle Market Growth As companies grasp for growth in a challenging market, research says the cloud could help

NCMM’s Managing Director, Doug Farren, recently wrote an article for Harvard Business Review as part of the Insight Series titled Navigating Change in the Middle Market. The article talks about key considerations middle market companies should explore, given their unique constraints, before approaching investment in technology. Check out the article here:

How Midsize Companies Can Drive Digital Transformation While the scale of technology investment can vary greatly across middle market companies of different sizes as well as industries, there are still common issues prevalent for mid-market leaders across the spectrum as they consider making a move toward an increasingly digital future. Perhaps most not...

Check out NCMM's latest company spotlight on Drake Cooper, an employee-owned advertising and marketing agency specializing in serving middle market brands. Drake Cooper strives to channel the creative potential of mid-size companies and shares advice for fellow business owners. Find the spotlight here: http://ow.ly/4ngs50O9EUE

Overall, the advantages of cloud usage in the middle market outweigh the negatives. Increased costs (30%) and the continual need to upgrade systems (29%) were the highest cited drawbacks of cloud usage. Learn more about the advantages and barriers to cloud usage in the middle market: http://ow.ly/uuua50O6gKn

The Market That Moves America podcast relaunch from NCMM is here! This episode, Innovative Technology in the Commercial Payments Sector, features a conversation between Doug Farren, NCMM's Managing Director, and Max Eliscu, founder of Viewpost. They discuss the benefits of moving away from physical checks and adopting electronic payment methods. Listen here: http://ow.ly/sG8w50NRkUo

Over 75% of cloud users describe their cloud experience as better than anticipated with only 2% saying it fell short of expectations. Considering adopting or integrating cloud use within your company? Read more about what to consider in our recent report released in partnership with Google Cloud: http://ow.ly/qOHh50NQGR3

Dean of Ohio State University Max M. Fisher College of Business, Anil Makhija, shares the importance of giving the US middle market a voice and introduces our latest impact report. He highlights how NCMM remained focused on fundamental research, outreach and education to support the middle market. Watch here: http://ow.ly/WupT50NPpaq and fine the full annual report here: http://ow.ly/GRXp50NPpcc

2020-2022 Annual Report: Dean Intro Video

Fast growers allocate nearly half (49%) of their IT budget to cloud services compared to slower-growing peers, who dedicate 39% on average. Read more about cloud usage in the middle market: http://ow.ly/Fs6y50NKCWX

Fast-growing middle market cloud users, defined as companies with revenue growth of 10%+ per year, are more likely to be fully integrated into the cloud across business functions. Learn more about how fast-growing middle market companeis are more innovative in their cloud strategies: http://ow.ly/zwzG50NKCQo

NCMM's Managing Director, Doug Farren, discussed trends and payments for the Market that Moves America alongside Leigh Hocker Radtke from Visa Business Solutions. Thanks so much to NAPCP for the opportunity to share NCMM data and participate in yet another successful conference.

Our research data tells an interesting and somewhat conflicting story about middle market cloud users’ perceptions of cloud security. Despite being the top driver of cloud usage, security is also the number one cited barrier to cloud use with 25% of companies saying they have concerns about risk and security. Read more about cloud usage and perceptions in the middle market: http://ow.ly/Oawy50NJysk

Stay tuned for The Market That Moves America podcast relaunch from NCMM! The podcast will feature middle market leaders and stakeholders who will share their real-world perspectives on trends and emerging issues. Never miss an episode by subscribing anywhere podcasts can be found. Subscribe to the podcast here: http://ow.ly/NsaB50NHrF9

According to our latest survey of over 400 technology decision makers in middle market companies, in partnership with Google Cloud, security is the most important factor when selecting a cloud provider, followed by trust and brand reputation. Read the full report here: http://ow.ly/fYpU50NEUhe

92% of middle market companies identified cloud usage as a necessity (50%) or a game changer (42%), while only 7% saw it as an inhibitor within their company. Discover more about cloud usage in the middle market from our collaboration with Google Cloud: http://ow.ly/RuIH50NCyIY

A large majority (84%) of middle market businesses take a strategic or transformational approach to cloud usage rather than a tactical approach. Learn more about how cloud usage is associated with business performance in our latest research report, Cloud Technology in the Middle Market: http://ow.ly/yhYr50NzRc6

Register for the 2023 NAPCP Commercial Card and Payment Conference to find out why US middle market companies value digital solutions (including payments) from research conducted in NCMM's 2022 Year-End Middle Market Indicator. NCMM's Managing Director, Doug Farren, will be joined by Leigh Hocker Radtke from Visa Business Solutions to share the latest on middle market payment needs, trends and solutions. Register here: http://ow.ly/PJux50NyTww

Middle market companies consider a wide range of cloud services to be very or extremely important, including databases and more advanced technologies such as data analytics, AI and machine learning. These services will continue to be key in their future cloud usage strategy. Learn more about our latest research report: http://ow.ly/z0tX50Nu9SB

While the global pandemic changed many things for nearly every organization of every size, it did not change the center’s commitment to helping middle market companies grow, compete and perform. We’re excited to share our 2020-2022 impact report, highlighting how NCMM remained focused on fundamental research, outreach and education to support the middle market. Find the report here: http://ow.ly/1NhE50NtgR0