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More than 100 business and academic professionals, residents, county leaders and commissioners and committee and organization members throughout southern Ohio gathered at Ohio State University’s South Centers at Piketon Oct. 31 to witness the groundbreaking of the Endeavor Center Business Incubator and Training Facility.

The 27,000-square foot building, scheduled to be up and running in 16 months, is designed to increase jobs and enhance the economic development of the region through assistance, education and training of entrepreneurs, small business owners, existing job employees and young people fresh out of school. The site will be made available to new and expanding businesses within Ross, Pike, Jackson, Scioto and adjacent counties.

Members of the Ohio Farm Bureau (OFBF) family were involved with the planning of the center. Ken Davis, former OFBF president and current Nationwide board member, served on the feasibility study that initiated the incubator center. Mike Pullins, OFBF vice president of business services, also was involved in the early planning stages of the facility.

"The center is just one more tool in the economic development process for southern Ohio," said Don McFeeters, director of the South Centers. "It’s one more step in the way to increase jobs and businesses in our region."

When completed, the facility will offer 26 spaces differing in size and use for entrepreneurs. The training wing of the new building also will provide housing for Ohio State’s Learning Center South, which currently provides programs for the community in a small computer lab and auditorium. The new and expanded learning center facility will include two classrooms, a computer laboratory and conference areas to accommodate meetings for various sized training classes. Tailored programs are being developed for the needs of businesses and residents throughout the region, as well as professional development classes for local kindergarten through 12^th-grade teachers and administrators.

The first client to be a part of the Endeavor Center Business Incubator is Teresa Abbott of Portsmouth. She said the new center is a godsend in helping her to better organize and expand her business Country Stars Enterprise, a Tupperware franchise. "It’s going to help me get more structured, as well as centralize my business, a big advantage for my clients," she said. "Overall, the center is going to better serve people and provide big opportunities for those already in a business or looking to start a business."

"Ideas that formed the backbone of this center included the need to provide an opportunity and location to train workers; a need for the development of new businesses; and a central location to provide that foundation for small businesses while allowing the growth of existing ones," said Greg Simonton, executive director of the Southern Ohio Diversification Initiative.

For further information about the Endeavor Center contact Barbara Brackman or Steve Shepherd at (740) 289-2071 or e-mail brackman.2@osu.edu