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Ohio’s Enterprise Appalachia is Ideal Business Startup Location

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:00:05 +0000

Over the past decade, enrollment at U.S. institutions of higher learning has grown by more than 25 percent, reaching 18.5 million in 2007. Much of the growth is due to a boom in adult and distance learning – a trend that Dr. Michael Mark recognized nearly two decades ago.

While serving as director of adult learning services at a major state institution, his passion for quality education inspired him to seek a better way for his distance-learning students to obtain their course materials. Finding none, he created his own.

Two companies later, Dr. Mark is credited with creating a niche industry around the fulfillment of content and course materials for distance learning, career and multi-campus colleges.

A native New Yorker, Dr. Mark went to college at Ohio University and found that Appalachia was “just too pretty a place to leave.” And, when it came time to start his companies, the serial entrepreneur found the ideal business startup location in Ohio’s Enterprise Appalachia.

“I am here because of the Ohio Promise,” Dr. Mark shared in a recent interview with me. “My favorite thing about living in Ohio’s Enterprise Appalachian Region is that you can achieve professional success within the context of a fulfilling life.”

Click here to read the rest of my interview with Dr. Mark.

Ideal Environment for Business Startup Success

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 12:00:03 +0000

According to the National Business Incubation Association, business incubators generate up to 20 times more jobs than any other federally funded community infrastructure project – at a fraction of the cost per job.

Nearly 30 years ago, this insight inspired the creation of Ohio University’s Innovation Center. Since then, the first university-based incubator in the state of Ohio and only the 12th in the U.S. has nurtured more than 80 companies and created more than 1,000 jobs in Ohio’s Appalachian Region.

Focused on information technology, biosciences and alternative and sustainable energy, the Center offers a home – complete with offices, conference rooms, shared office equipment and advanced laboratory equipment that includes the only commercial wet labs in Southeast Ohio – where startup businesses in these industries can grow.

The Center’s location in Ohio’s Enterprise Appalachia Region allows resident entrepreneurs to take advantage of an ideal startup environment that provides all of the criteria for business success: access to supply chain and markets, access to business capital and support services, access to knowledge and labor and access to a balanced life.

I recently spoke with Jennifer Simon, director of the Innovation Center. She pointed out that the entrepreneurs in Athens and the surrounding region want to stay. The business-friendly environment, growth opportunities and talented workforce fuel the growth of these small businesses, but the welcoming community and balanced lifestyle make them want to remain in the area.

Click here to read the full Ohio University Innovation Center story.

Working and Living in Ohio

admin — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:25:39 +0000

Big business doesn't always have to mean life in the big city. Some of Ohio's fastest-growing companies are proving that, becoming leaders in high-tech and service fields far from the outer-belts of Ohio's urban centers. A few of Ohio's home-grown entrepreneurs shared with hiVelocity about why they like where they live and why they plan to stay:

Steve Spoonamore, ABS Materials (Wooster, Ohio)
John Fusco, National Patent Analytical Systems, Inc. (Mansfield, Ohio)
Bill Whittenberger, Catacel Corp. (Garrettsville, Ohio)
Michael Mark, Ed Map (Nelsonville, Ohio)
Larry Triplett, Resource Systems (New Concord, Ohio)

Executives are realizing, in Ohio, they can find the perfect balance to successfully growing a business without sacrificing their life. Business owners profit from the bottom-line benefits of better work-life balance for their employees. Ohio’s low-cost, low-stress communities and combination of micropolitan and metropolitan cities provides executives and employees the resources and time to make any ambition achievable. Ohio truly is the State of Perfect Balance.

Click here to read the full story with hiVelocity.

Appalachian Company Transforming Rust Belt into Tech Belt

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 19:34:30 +0000

After growing his IT consulting business into a $100 million company, Craig Newbold returned to his hometown in Ohio’s Appalachian Region and started another successful business – Newbold Technologies. Now, with Newbold Tech, he is working to transform Ohio’s “Rust Belt” into the “Tech Belt” of America.

To create tech jobs in a traditionally manufacturing-heavy region, Craig determined that he would need to train residents that have an aptitude for software development. He started a non-profit school, the NewLife Technical Institute, which pairs seasoned IT professionals with students to teach them about software development and computer systems.

I recently spoke with Craig about why he finds Ohio’s Enterprise Appalachia the ideal business start-up environment. Click here to read the full story.

Ohio’s Public-Private VC Programs Offer Key to Growth

admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:27:58 +0000

Experts in venture capital and early stage investing say Ohio’s 2010 venture capital success is dependent on the combination of public programs such as Ohio Third Frontier, coupled with private venture capital investments throughout the state.

A recent report issued by the Brookings Institution cites programs such as the Ohio Third Frontier, an unprecedented and bipartisan commitment to create new technology-based products, companies, industries, and jobs, as successful complements to private venture capital funding to encourage innovative start-up companies, entrepreneurship, and business development.

Read more about Ohio's formula for entrepreneurial and growth success.