DETROIT, MI--(Marketwired - Jul 23, 2015) - The Detroit chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth^® (ACG), a global organization focused on driving middle-market growth, today released data showing the impact of middle-market private equity on the local Metro Detroit economy. The source of the data, titled GrowthEconomy.org, details the results of private equity investment throughout the United States. Importantly, and for the first time ever, the updated GrowthEconomy.org reveals how private equity investment is the leading driver of jobs and sales growth in the middle market.

"From 1995 to 2013, GrowthEconomy.org shows that private capital-backed middle-market companies in Metro Detroit outperform other companies on sales, which drives employment growth," said Rob Dutkiewicz, president of ACG Detroit and shareholder with Clayton & McKervey, P.C. "Private equity investment has a positive, powerful and profound impact on the local Metro Detroit economy and, specifically, on the middle market."

The middle market plays a crucial role in the U.S. economy. According to the National Center for the Middle Market at The Ohio State University, the sector represents 47.9 million employees and one-third of American GDP. The middle market is defined as companies with revenues between $10 million and $1 billion. Based on employee population, Detroit is the 12th largest middle-market metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the country.

The newly released GrowthEconomy.org data shows that:

• Private equity investments created more than 21,000 new jobs in Metro Detroit from 1995-2013.
  
  
• From 1995 through 2013, Metro Detroit private equity-backed companies grew jobs by 194.7 percent, while all other companies grew jobs by 5.4 percent. Virtually all of this growth comes from the middle market.
  
  
• From 1995 through 2013, private equity-backed companies grew sales by 182.1 percent, while all other businesses grew sales by 10.3 percent. This growth provided $2.5 billion of sales in the local Metro Detroit middle-market economy.
  
  

"ACG's mission is driving middle-market growth," said Jay Hansen, ACG Detroit board member and managing partner of O2 Investment Partners. "ACG members are the innovators and capital providers to middle-market companies and the Growth Economy analysis makes it clear that private equity -- particularly middle-market private equity -- helps local Detroit companies as we come back from a deep recession. This is the story our chapter wants to share with local business leaders and elected officials through a fresh grassroots initiative."

ACG Detroit President Rob Dutkiewicz will be joined by ACG Detroit board members Jay Hansen of Bloomfield Hills; Steve Ellis, managing director of Stratford-Cambridge Group in Farmington Hills; Gretchen Perkins, partner with Huron Capital Partners, LLC in Detroit; and members of the ACG Western Michigan chapter in executing a grassroots campaign in Michigan through the remainder of 2015.

About GrowthEconomy.org
Two independent data sets are used on GrowthEconomy.org: the National Establishment Time Series (NETS) database, a catalog covering 55 million unique establishments with more than 300 data fields and 18 years of historical information; and PitchBook, the leading provider of independent private equity research and data. Access to the NETS database was contributed to Growth Economy by the University of Wisconsin-Extension's Division for Business and Entrepreneurship, which runs the Business Dynamics Research Consortium (BDRC). Access to the PitchBook data set is made possible through a strategic relationship between BDRC, PitchBook Data Inc. and ACG.

GrowthEconomy.org is distinct because it doesn't present a static report, but instead allows the user to determine the parameters to compare the performance of more than 80,000 private equity-backed companies against more than 55 million other companies between 1995 and 2013. Data may be sorted by all 50 states, 365 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and 435 congressional districts.

For more information, please visit www.GrowthEconomy.org or contact Amber Landis, ACG Global senior director of public policy, at alandis@acg.org.

About ACG Detroit
Founded in 1984, ACG Detroit is a chapter with more than 350 members and is the leading professional organization of M&A professionals in the metro Detroit area. To learn more, visit www.acg.org/detroit. 

About the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG)
ACG's 14,500 members are the investors, owners, executives, lenders and advisers to the world's fastest-growing middle-market companies. Founded in 1954, ACG is a global organization with 57 chapters. Learn more at www.acg.org. ACG drives middle-market growth. Learn how at www.middlemarketgrowth.org.