On the whole, the U.S. middle market is a historically overlooked yet incredibly powerful segment of the economy. While the National Center for the Middle Market has made great strides over the past decade in shedding light on the middle market’s importance and outsized contributions, Black-owned middle market companies remain somewhat of an enigma.
Our research team conducted individual
60-minute Zoom interviews with 13 Black
middle market business owners and leaders.
Our respondents are responsible for strategic
decision making in organizations spanning
different industries, including construction,
logistics, financial services and information
technology. The companies in the survey
ranged in size from $20 million to $500 million
in annual revenues.
By talking directly with these Black middle
market business leaders, we sought to better
understand the dynamics of Black-owned middle
market businesses in the United States, including
specific drivers of success as well as factors that
hinder success as companies grow to a specific
size and become midsize businesses.
Download our report to see how four key findings in this report can help
educate middle market stakeholders on
the Black-owned business story. They give
insights into how industry partners and service
providers may be able to better support Blackowned middle market businesses. And they
can help define a road map for tapping the full
potential of this segment to contribute to and
shape the middle market’s continued prosperity
and success.
“I sense that Black-owned
businesses do not have the access
needed for involvement in the
buyers’ planning process. They
do not have meaningful inclusion
in the innovation process where
strategic decisions are made,
such as product development
and launch, product and process
innovation, and R&D. This lack
of involvement in the strategic
planning and being unable to
escape the commodity position
results in a lack of upward
mobility for minority suppliers.”
- Dr. James Hill
Chair, Department of Operations and Business Analytics and Professor of Operations Management