The National Center for the Middle Market named SunTrust Banks its new primary sponsor. The multi-year agreement with Suntrust will enable the NCMM to continue providing insights and analyses that drive growth, jobs and competitiveness in the middle market.

The NCMM also signed a multi-year agreement with accounting, tax and advisory organization Grant Thornton. The sponsors will join The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business—a founding partner of the NCMM—in determining the strategic direction of the NCMM moving forward.

“On behalf of Fisher College of Business, I am delighted to see the National Center for the Middle Market building a strong partnership with SunTrust and Grant Thornton, which are both recognized leaders in their industries,” said Anil K. Makhija, dean and John W. Berry, senior chair in Business at Fisher. “These mutually beneficial collaborations underscore the Center’s commitment to providing critical insights and analyses that drive growth, increase competition and create jobs in the middle market, the market that moves America.”

The NCMM hosts and participates in a number of events, in addition to funding research reports. Areas of critical focus in the past year include digitization, innovation, mergers and acquisitions and access to capital.

The U.S. middle market is a key driver of the U.S. economy, consisting of 200,000 companies with annual revenues between $10 million and $1 billion. Together, they account for 44.5 million jobs, or one third of total private employment, generating more than $10 trillion in combined revenues annually. In the next 12 months, the NCMM projects the segment’s growth to continue to drive the economy, with revenue expanding by 3.7% and employment growing 2.7%.

The National Center for the Middle Market is the nation’s leading research institution dedicated to helping middle market companies to be more competitive through research, advocacy and educational initiatives.