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Strickland coming to Hamilton

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Updated 4:45 PM Monday, February 22, 2010

HAMILTON — Hamilton’s BizTech Center is the perfect example of how Gov. Ted Strickland said he wants to grow small business in Ohio. That’s why he’ll be making a stop there Wednesday to talk more about his growth initiatives.

The governor will be appearing at the BizTech center at 20 High St. for a tour and entrepreneurial roundtable discussion at 3 p.m. Feb. 24. Due to limited space, the event is invitation only, said Marilyn Collmer, manager of the center.

“We are just honored and to showcase our program,” Collmer said. “It is great to be recognized because we are small businesses working to create jobs for Butler County and southwest Ohio and all of Ohio.”

The BizTech Center, a small business incubator designed to accelerate the development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support services, has successfully graduated 16 small businesses from its program. It currently has 36 business in residence, representing 110 jobs generating more than $3.8 million in revenues, Collmer said.

It’s this success that Strickland hopes to use as an example to launch similar small business assistance programs at a statewide level, said Amanda Wurst, spokeswoman for the governor’s office.

“The reason why we picked the BizTech Center to visit is because of their accomplishments in the last five years,” she said. “BizTech is dedicated to start-ups that provide advisory services entrepreneurs need to be successful.”

Strickland will be outlining two small business programs that are still working through the legislative approval process. One is the Build Your Own Business program, designed to use part of the casino license revenues to go toward a small business loan program. Based on a similar program at Lorain Community College where 60 out of 62 businesses have succeeded, the program would provide up to $5,000 to businesses in need of startup assistance, Wurst said.

He will also discuss the Small Business Growth Partnership, which Wurst said is meant to create a public-private partnership between the state, lenders and small businesses to help generate working capital.

In addition to his stop in Hamilton, the governor will also be in Dayton Wednesday for a discussion at Miami Valley Hospital and will head to Cincinnati Thursday to speak at the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber Dinner, according to his office.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.

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