By Ryan Mapes, Business Development Program Leader and Endeavor Center Manager
The Endeavor Center and its partners are off to a great start in 2016! As cleanup work continues at the Piketon Uranium Enrichment facility, so does activity in the Endeavor Center as we continue to operate at an occupancy rate of 100%. Many partners are either contractors who work directly with Fluor or companies that provide services to those contractors. We have also added three new partners since the fall of 2015. Those partners are Steve McCain and Associates, LLC. (Acentus Capital), Visiting Angels Home Health Care, and Swift & Staley, Inc.
The Endeavor Center has small, medium and large size training and meeting rooms as well as a 16-station computer lab available for lease. Our smallest room will accommodate 12 people, the medium room up to 30 and the large room will seat 75 comfortably. These rooms are a great asset to the Endeavor Center as they bring close to 2,500 visitors through the doors annually. This also provides an opportunity for those attendees to learn more about the services and programs available at the South Centers.
The primary business development technical assistance program affiliated with or housed within The Endeavor Center is the District 7 Small Business Development Center. The SBDC provides consulting services to area businesses at no direct cost to the client. These primary services cover a very broad range of topics from business planning to access to capital to starting your business in Ohio. The SBDC also provides access to an Export Assistance specialist and a Manufacturing and Technology Small Business Development specialist who are also housed at the Endeavor Center. These programs provide technical expertise and training to the small businesses in Southern Ohio.
The staff of The OSU South Centers SBDC continually engages community organizations to maintain awareness of changing needs in the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem and develop solutions to combat any negative impact to the economy. Counselors volunteer time to serve as board members on chambers of commerce, a regional board established to support economic development, and advisory boards for business organizations to increase awareness of business issues and identify solutions to problems. Two specific examples of this continuous communication with the business community are featured on pages 6 and 7.