Emory University business and finance professor Jeff Rosensweig said there are three things business leaders want to hear from President Obama to encourage hiring: deregulation, tax reform and a more positive message.

"We’re at a time now when the stock market has fallen, the economy seems to be slowing down, [the government is] worried about the problems in Europe with their debt problem," Rosensweig said. "It seems like a more positive message has to come from the president" that will "rally the people to gain some confidence and go out there and compete."

Rosensweig is director of the Global Perspectives Program at Goizueta Business School. Before joining Emory, he was the senior international economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.