Middle Markets TV Coverage 2011 - Special Report

As CEO of Salesforce.com,  with its $16.5 billion market cap, Marc Benoiff is a big fish in this corporate pond. His advice to his smaller corporate peers? Don't do what I did.

As hundreds of corporate leaders from across the country gather in the Buckeye State for the 2011 National Middle Market Summit, the public pressure for job creation has reached a fever pitch.

Fred Smith, Chief Executive of FedEx, said at the Middle Market National Summit that he does not expect the U.S. economy to slip back into recession.

Business leaders from across the country are gathering this October to dissect a little understood, but enormous part of the US economy — the middle market. 

In an uncertain, volatile time, companies must keep their nerve and keep investing, says Immelt.

What defines the so-called middle market? The companies are often family-owned, they're usually U.S.-based, and they make up a huge portion of U.S. GDP.

More the realm of ambitious entrepreneurs and solid family business dynasties than boardroom-polished MBAs, middle market companies are being recognized as a huge and increasingly critical segment of the American—and global—economy.