[support] content provider role?

Hi, I'm trying to use Drupal as a newbie and want to create a user type called content provider. Basically I want folks to be sub-editors on the site, so they can add content and edit it, but without being administrators. Is there something I'm missing in thinking that this needs an add-on? Can I do this straight out of the box? References welcome. Dave -- It is told that such are the aerodynamics and wing loading of the bumblebee that, in principle, it cannot fly...if all this be true...life among bumblebees must bear a remarkable resemblance to life in the United States. -- John Kenneth Galbraith, in American Capitalism: The Concept of Countervailing Power