NEW YORK, NY (April 24, 2013) — GE Capital and Slate Custom will kick off their “Roadshow for Growth,” a six-month, multi-city tour that will address the issues of middle market businesses, a sector that generates $9 trillion in annual revenue and accounts for nearly 34 percent of total U.S. employment. Slate and GE Capital will share tour highlights, research and feature stories on the middle market, “the market that drives America,” at roadshow.slate.com. These companies have come together to raise awareness of middle market businesses—companies with revenues between $10 million to $1 billion—and to bring this critical cross-section of American enterprise to the attention of policy makers and the general public. 

Traveling in a branded bus, GE Capital and Slate’s Roadshow for Growth will start in Kansas City and from there head to the heart of the American economy, visiting middle market businesses in St. Louis, Indianapolis, Chicago, Elkhart, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, New York, Dallas, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, among others. The tour will culminate in Columbus, Ohio at the third annual National Middle Market Summit in late October.

At each stop, the Roadshow for Growth will host a variety of events, ranging from town hall discussions and conversations with the city’s mayor to visits with select middle market businesses.  Slate Chairman Jacob Weisberg and GE Capital executives including Chief Commercial Officer Mike Pilot and Dan Henson, president and CEO of GE Capital Americas will meet with local midmarket business owners and officials to discuss crucial concerns, such as domestic and overseas competition, innovation and technology, rising healthcare costs, job creation, taxes, federal regulations and numerous other germane topics. In addition to engaging middle market businesses, Roadshow for Growth will aim to motivate legislators to pass new regulations in support of middle market business growth, the key to American economic survival.

“We’re thrilled to be working with GE Capital on the largest integrated marketing program we’ve ever done at Slate,” said Matt Turck, Publisher. “Roadshow for Growth is designed to engage middle market businesses, thought leaders and legislators so that the issues affecting these businesses—companies that represent the most important opportunities for job creation and economic growth—will also be heard on Capitol Hill.”

“Middle market companies account for more than 43 million U.S. jobs and one-third of the national private sector GDP,” said Mike Pilot, chief commercial officer, GE Capital. “We identified Slate, a digital innovator renowned for smart crowdsourcing, as the perfect partner to help us contextualize the issues. The combination of Slate with GE Capital’s expertise and experience in helping grow middle market businesses, will allow us to connect with middle market business leaders to formulate solutions.”

Daily blog posts, video and commentary will be published on Roadshow.Slate.com as news unfolds along the tour route. The National Center for the Middle Market, which today released its middle market indicator for the first quarter of 2013, will contribute reports on key findings about the middle market including its structure, geography and economic contribution, the average employment growth in the sector, and company survival rate. Roadshow.Slate.com will be a vital resource for those looking to gain more insight into this critical part of the US economy. For more information on GE and Slate’s Roadshow for Growth, please visit https://twitter.com/roadshow4growth and https://www.facebook.com/Roadshow4growth.