Andre Thornton's professional history is marked by a series of successful roles ranging from an acclaimed major league baseball player, to father of three sons, to his current role as leader of one of the largest minority owned and certified third party logistics company in America, ASW Global. By locating in Ohio, ASW Global has easy access to much of the country. And, by operating in Foreign Trade Zone #181, Thornton has a competitive advantage through the ability to provide more than 150 clients with tax and duty benefits. "Ohio is a wonderful location for a logistics company's headquarters. We have access to 65 percent of the North American population within a one-day haul," says Thornton. "In addition, Ohio's world-class transportation infrastructure gives our clients access to rail, water, air and road to cost effectively move their product."

Read more how Ohio's business environment helped ASW Global become the highly successful logistics company it is today.

• Commuter Advertising - Nearly a year ago, Commuter Advertising co-founder Katie Hill and her partner (and husband) Russell Gottesman won the top prize at the 2010 University of Dayton Business Plan Competition. The pair had moved to Dayton from Chicago after getting their first advertising contract with the Dayton Regional Transit Authority.
• Venturepax.com - Last year, Danny Stull had just launched Venturepax.com, a website that relies on user-generated content to identify, photograph and write about outdoor activities for families in the Cincinnati area where he lives. The site has social networking elements including user profiles, a comment feature and place "check-ins" similar to foursquare.
• Indigo Imp Brewery - A year and a half ago, Matt Chappel and his and wife Kathy were a few months into their new venture The Indigo Imp Brewery, a small batch microbrewery in Cleveland. Matt, a longtime home brewer turned his passion into a full time business after fashioning his own brew house system using generic dairy farm equipment.

Ohio is the ideal location choice for start-up opportunities due to its ability to deliver on the ideal location criteria for an entrepreneur-friendly environment: ready access to venture capital, knowledge and labor, supply chains and markets. Read more about what entrepreneurs can find in Ohio.

Read more from hiVelocity about how these three companies have fared in Ohio's supportive business climate.

PartsSource is the nation's only multi-manufacturer, multi-modality alternative parts supplier supporting both imaging and biomed parts requests for hospital equipment. PartsSource is committed to providing excellent customer service and superior pricing to every customer each and every day.

Ray's story is fascinating. He grew up poor in L.A., but through faith, confidence and perseverance, he's built an extremely rewarding business career. Still, nothing is more important to him than faith and family. In Ohio, he doesn't have to sacrifice them for business success.

With the office, the city and favorite outdoor activities all within minutes of home, Ray has the ability to do more each day, from running one of the nation's fastest-growing businesses to spending quality time with his grandchildren to directing a not-for-profit international humanitarian organization.

Read Ray's story about how he has found the perfect balance in Ohio.

Vadxx energy processes provide an alternative to drilling for oil or importing from foreign countries through a patented manufacturing process to transform petroleum-based liquid and solid wastes into energy.

With 25 years experience in the energy industry, CEO Jim Garrett has worked in the oil, gas and utilities fields. He is a native Ohioan with engineering and business degrees from Case Western Reserve University. Jim has been very active in nonprofit volunteer activities over the years. Presently, he is on the board of Lake County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services. His present focus in the community is creating new jobs. Jim and his wife have three adult children. He believes Ohio offers "a balanced blend of business opportunity with a very diverse, comfortable and affordable personal lifestyle."

Read my interview with Jim.

According to FoxNews.com, the Office of Naval Research has begun testing blast-proof ballistic eyewear that instantly alters tints in response to changing light conditions -- going from shaded to clear in barely a quarter of a second -- using technology from AlphaMicron.

AlphaMicron is located in Kent, Ohio. From its early roots in tire production and support for the auto industry, Ohio has always been the heart of America's polymer industry. Today, polymers are the state's largest industry: Ohio leads the nation in the production of polymer products, machinery for the polymer industry, motor vehicle components, and more than 100 other industrial products.

Read my interview with Bahman Taheri and find out more about Ohio's advanced materials and polymer industry.