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Empowering Ohio’s Middle Market with the CEO Forum
661 Plays4 months ago
In this episode, we welcome Robert Shenton, Executive Director of the CEO Forum at the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. Robert shares his vision for fostering leadership and growth in Ohio's middle market. Discover how peer-to-peer networks, unique insights from the NCMM, and strategic business experiences are fostering growth, innovation, and advocacy within Ohio's vibrant middle market sector. Learn more about our partnership with the CEO Forum at https://www.middlemarketcenter.org/partnership-with-the-ohio-chamber-of-commerce-ceo-forum.
The CEO Forum provides Ohio business leaders with a network of peers to share and seek advice on challenges they’re facing, while also giving them the tools necessary to scale their businesses. This membership program consists of an engaging asynchronous educational course delivered through The Ohio State University Max M. Fisher College of Business.
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Transcript
Introduction to The Market That Moves America
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to The Market That Moves America, a podcast from the National Center for the Middle Market. The center is the leading source of knowledge, leadership and innovative research on the middle market economy. Throughout our podcast, we will feature middle market leaders and stakeholders to hear their real world perspectives on trends and emerging issues.
Importance of Research and Education
00:00:22
Speaker
Research insights and data collection are critical to the mission of the National Center for the Middle Market. But as we think about new and innovative ways to help support these businesses across the US, education becomes a critical element of how to best build capabilities for growth needed at midsize companies.
Discussion with Ohio Chamber of Commerce
00:00:45
Speaker
Today's podcast will be a discussion with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and a new program they've rolled out specifically for middle market leaders in the state called the CEO Forum.
00:00:58
Speaker
Welcome to the Market That Moves America podcast. My name is Doug Farron, Managing Director of the National Center for the Middle Market, located at the Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. Over our 12 plus years in existence, the center has amassed a tremendous library of research, whether that's from our middle market indicator study or from our various flagship reports that we we've done over the years. And one of our ah key areas of focus is taking all this great insight and data and turning it into
00:01:35
Speaker
educational content, whether that be for undergraduate students here at the university or for business executives in the middle market, which is why I'm so excited about today's conversation.
Introducing Robert Shatton and the CEO Forum
00:01:48
Speaker
with the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. So joining me today is Robert Shatton. Robert is the executive director of the CEO Forum, which is a middle market focused peer-to-peer network that runs through the chamber. We're going to talk a lot more about what this is, but I first want to just say welcome to Robert. Thank you, Doug. Appreciate being here and looking forward to the conversation.
00:02:11
Speaker
Yeah, as am I. So first, Robert, could you first, we'll start by having you tell us just a little bit about your experience, your background, and then your role with the CEO Forum. Certainly. So my background is actually in economics and management, although I've had a 35-year career in public accounting, serving primarily privately held companies in middle market organizations. And that's across the board with whether things relate to financial statements, accounting, tax issues, business consulting issues. It's been a thrill to be part of that market and really see some of that growth here in Ohio, as well as the Midwest,
00:02:50
Speaker
through that strength of middle market organizations and people that not only run those companies, but also at look at transactions and opportunities to grow throughout the Midwest. And when you consider the acceleration of technology and what that's meant to the ability to serve and expand across industries, services, and geography, we're really in a great spot here in Ohio and I've really enjoyed that part of my 35 years.
Purpose and Offerings of the CEO Forum
00:03:15
Speaker
But that being said, I'm looking forward to jumping over to the CEO Forum and really facilitating the program as we build what I think will be a very unique world-class program for middle market companies and executives ah for our businesses here in Ohio.
00:03:31
Speaker
Yeah, what was what was the draw there? What what attracted you to this this role? I assume it's a new role with the chamber. What what was the most exciting thing for you? Yeah, really the big draw is leadership of business. And so when I think about how companies that are in the middle market need access to world-class leadership, business thought, the combination with the Fisher School, the power of the Ohio Chamber, to be in the middle of that and to help build that program and serve those middle market organizations, was really exciting to me. Excellent. So why don't we just dive right in and tell us a bit more about what the CEO Forum is, if you can describe it for for the listeners, and then why the Ohio Chamber wanted to create this type of program for middle market companies throughout the state.
00:04:20
Speaker
Yes, you know it's interesting that we can read the dialogue that's on the website, which I will do because I think it's helpful to set the context. But what the c the CEO is, is really a peer-to-peer network of middle market companies. And we're going to have pods of company executives, C-suite business leaders that allow you to share and seek advice on challenges that you might face, along with being able to give you the tools and access to some of that world-class executive education to help scale a business. And if I was to say, what are really the four things that we're looking to to achieve here? So certainly, number one is the strength of that peer-to-peer network.
00:04:59
Speaker
ah Number two is the access to the executive education and faculty at the Ohio State University Fisher School of Business in the executive education, but also, Doug, the partnership with your organization, the National Center for the Middle Market and all that data. Those are things that the middle market companies don't typically have direct access to. CEO Forum can help create that access. The next thing though is unique business experiences. And so where we can provide some access to world business leaders, community business leaders, elected officials, in kind of a one-to-one unique private format, it really allows us to go deep in terms of understanding
00:05:39
Speaker
things that we can take that are happening in the economy, happening in our markets and our industries, and bring them back to our businesses. And then really the last thing here, but very important, is that we really want to unlock the power of the Ohio Chamber to help serve the middle market. And that's through the advocacy, whether it's in business, whether it's in tax, whether it's in issues such as minimum wage or others. The power of the Ohio Chamber in the middle market is real, and we want to bring it to more of the middle market companies in the state. yeah So are some of our listeners are are most likely familiar with, I would say, you know somewhat similar programs like that are offered through Vistage or maybe YPO, but this sounds like it's it's that model, but so much more. There's a lot of additional elements.
00:06:27
Speaker
I would agree with that. And really, I think the focus is on a business experience that whether it's in your peer-to-peer group, whether it's with the Ohio State faculty in the executive education, whether it's the information and data with the National Center, whether it's these unique programs we're talking about, it's really business orientation that we want to get into and really help those leaders work on their business since typically they're working in their business in majority of the time. Right, yep, couldn't agree more.
Partnership with Ohio Chamber and Program Details
00:06:59
Speaker
So um Steve Stivers, who's the CEO of the chamber, has had a long standing relationship with the NCMM, you know going back to his days when when he was serving in Congress and was one of the co-chairs of the Middle Market Growth Caucus that we launched back in 2014. And ah we were really grateful for his support. And I remember you know having this conversation
00:07:24
Speaker
Almost a year and a half ago, almost two years ago now, to be honest, about ways that we could partner together. You've already touched on some of the reasons why the chamber came to us, but again, what what were some of the motivations around seeking out NCMM and particularly our non-degree executive education program that you mentioned that's actually doing a bulk of the the training element of this? So I think when you look at middle market companies and particularly the leaders in those companies, they aren't typically marketed to or have the time to participate in a program such as the CEO Forum. And so the interest here in terms of why the partnership is it really builds a collaboration where the strength of all three things, which is direct peer-to-peer experience of what it means to be leading a business, leading growth, leading transition strategy,
00:08:17
Speaker
along with you need some executive education about what's happening not only with within business, but what about the workforce? What about the students that are coming through the Ohio State University? And then data, we know data is a big deal and the ability to analyze that, utilize that, but then interpret it in a way that helps to make your company better and more successful. This is what the CEO Forum can do as a combination and why the partnership between Ohio State and NCMM is so important. Yeah, that's that's great. It is truly a natural fit. I mean, we are neighbors here with our offices um you know literally just down the road from each other in in central Ohio and Columbus. And yeah, we're we're really excited about this opportunity because it allows us ah to gain that access and
00:09:10
Speaker
using the reach of the Ohio Chamber really get in front of more and more middle market companies throughout the state. So so we just launched the first cohort a few months ago. Can you tell us a little bit about how that's going? What the participants are experiencing? Maybe a little highlights if you can share that as well. Sure, the energy and engagement has been outstanding. And so it started with the kickoff meeting, and that's where the pod got the opportunity to meet and not only yourself, Doug, but also leaders at the chamber, leaders at the Fisher School, leaders of executive education. And that kickoff was really the opportunity to share and learn from each other about what are some of the critical issues.
00:09:53
Speaker
From that, we moved into our monthly meetings. and So we had a monthly meeting in April. We had two monthly meetings in May. We've had a monthly meeting here in June. And in those monthly meetings, we divided up between what we'll call the educational piece, the roundtable discussion, and then any other things that people might want to know. But we always close with what we call our rock star moment. So we want to know, hey, what happened that was really rockstar, was really solid and gives you motivation and energy for moving forward. So I'd say the sessions have been a combination of education, motivation, as well as then sharing things that are challenges and opportunities and to get different perspectives from those. So overall, that's been great.
00:10:36
Speaker
The other thing I would say is unique business experience. And we've had a couple, and one being with the Ohio Chamber on their business day back in May, we had a private group with one of the ownership of the sports teams here in Ohio, professional sports teams, and got to talk deeply about middle market business, their own organizations and things that really impact some of their plans and strategies for the coming years. And over the coming months, then they're going to continue with some different training modules, because I know we had kind of four key themes identified, as well as these monthly meetings and experiences. Is that the the plan for the next eight eight to 10 months?
00:11:17
Speaker
Yes, in fact, the first session was on strategic planning and agility. We just wrapped that session up and the wrap up session is what we call office hours. And that's the opportunity to sit down and talk with the Ohio State faculty about our observations, but then how we can use some of their knowledge and our experience together ah for better strategic planning and agility. Our second program just started this past week and that's going to be scaling a business and new market entry. And Chad from the Fisher School sat down with the group and we had a good opening and we'll continue with that through August when we wrap up session two. And other sessions that we're going to get into will have to do with access to capital, which is extremely important to the middle market and in today's high interest rate environment, as well as things that deal with transition planning and succession as well.
00:12:09
Speaker
ye Since this is the first cohort out of the gate, somewhat of a pilot, um how are you gathering feedback or or keeping in touch with the participants to make sure that you know we're we're kind of thinking about ways to improve it or addressing things that they may need? Is that feedback that you're constantly asking them for or what what does that process look like?
Feedback and Program Customization
00:12:32
Speaker
Doug that the feedback so important and so between weekly emails between one on ones ah between the opportunity to provide survey feedback back to Ohio state certainly the opportunity to interact with you and in your organization.
00:12:46
Speaker
those are all critical components towards building a session that's unique to the pod as opposed to just a general session. So the uniqueness of what we do and how we get the feedback and communicate with each other using all the different platforms available has been really helpful. Yeah, no, that's great to hear. And ah another thing, if you wouldn't mind sharing, I think most of the organizations in this first cohort are all central Ohio based, but eventually the idea is to start to build this out in other parts of the state. Is that right?
00:13:19
Speaker
That's correct. We really see this as a statewide program. We're looking to have a pod started from Cleveland area companies, Cincinnati or Southwest Ohio companies, along with one more Ohio, Central Ohio pod. So a total of four started here in 2024. Oh, that's great. Excellent. So let's. Great to talk through the CEO Forum. I think that was a great overview and and some kind of real-time updates on how the program is going.
Ohio Middle Market Outlook and Strategies
00:13:47
Speaker
If we were to just take a step back broadly between that feedback that you're getting specific to CEO Forum, but really the overall the work that the chamber does across the state, what is the sense or feeling that you're hearing across Ohio about the business climate, specific specifically as we think about middle market companies?
00:14:09
Speaker
I think really there's cautious optimism within the state. And I think we recognize that there's growth going on in certain parts of the state, but not necessarily in all parts of the state. and we look at our economic numbers, we know that we've got work to do and we've got opportunity really to kind of build a stronger economy, stronger business model, and the middle market will be a leader in that growth and strength as we look in the coming years. If you look at some of the big factors that that indicate and, you know, impact our business environment, the big ones, employment and workforce. Everybody's talking about it. We need more population ah in addition to workforce, and we need to make sure that the skills that our workforce has meets the demand of today's middle market businesses. The other couple factors, interest rates, we know we'd love to see those come down because that helps our middle market businesses invest more, ah whether it's in their own capital equipment, whether it's in acquisitions of other companies, we'd love to see a moderation of those interest rates.
00:15:10
Speaker
And then inflation, while it seems to have settled in, it's still a little higher than I think what we would all like to see in terms of certainly some of the utility costs and things that are important in running our businesses. But you know the overall balance when we look at it for middle market in Ohio between employment, interest rate and inflation is poised for growth. And I think we can help bring that to the market in the CEO form also will be a big part of helping to understand and interpret those data points. yes Certainly. A lot of the you know large front page stories revolve around you know massive investments like Intel and Honda. I mean, rightfully so. those Those are a really big deal for the state. But yeah as our center knows through our years of collecting data, it's that really solid consistent growth of middle market companies that oftentimes
00:16:01
Speaker
ah can serve as the the bedrock of of a lot of communities, you know smaller communities around the state of Ohio. So ah we fully support that as well. um but The like last question I have for you, Robert, is what advice would you have for middle market companies, if if leaders are listening to this discussion and are looking at ways that they can identify maybe new strategic opportunities for their business, what what advice would you give them? Since it is so difficult to find data, oftentimes it's difficult to find peer companies that you can talk to and you know get best practices from. So maybe resources that other resources the chamber has or other tips that you would advise.
00:16:46
Speaker
so I think a couple things to start with would be be very aware of what's happening in your industry. so you know We talk a lot about s SWOT analysis that companies do internally, but I think it's more important to know what's going on the external just as much as it is on the internal. and That's the piece where we talk about that balance between working in your business and working on the business If there's a general trend, middle market businesses tend to be more in the business than on. and so The collaboration that you're able to have with outside of your own business with other business leaders really helps to lead towards good thinking and balanced thinking of how you deal with growth, how you deal with workforce, how you deal with maybe succession plans and such.
00:17:32
Speaker
So while listening and looking for those opportunities, having a strong team of outside advisors is also, I think, a critical key to success for our middle market businesses here in the coming months and years. yeah great Great words of wisdom. Have really appreciated the time today. Great conversation. And yeah as I said earlier, the the center is very excited about this partnership and and where it will most likely lead, getting these pods up and running across the state. And I just want to thank you for for your time and the discussion today, Robert.
00:18:09
Speaker
Thank you, Doug. We appreciate the partnership and we look forward to the growth together. Great.
Closing and Where to Find More Information
00:18:15
Speaker
So for more information about the CEO Forum, I think they've got some great materials on the Chamber website, which is OhioChamber dot.com. I invite our listeners ah to go take a look at that if you want to learn more about the CEO Forum. And, uh, we look forward to, uh, to again, supporting this program with, with all of the data and resources that we can hear at the center. Thanks again. Thank you for listening to the market that moves America. Never miss a new episode by subscribing anywhere podcast can be found. You can also subscribe to our email newsletter at middle market center.org.