The Stark Development Board is a 501(c)(3) private, nonprofit corporation created 30 years ago by business and community leaders and elected officials to serve as the lead economic development group in Stark County.
The mission of SDB is to retain and assist local companies in expansion projects and to attract new business investment to the area.
For the past 30 years, SDB has been successful in working with companies locally and from outside that, in turn, have invested over $2 billion into the Stark County economy. In 2013, SDB helped launch a new economic development partnership, the Stark Entrepreneurship Alliance.
The mission of the alliance is to coordinate and provide assistance and funding to small technology-based companies seeking to grow their businesses, and to potential entrepreneurs who are judged to have high potential to start new companies.
SDB and its partners recognized that we are now part of a global economy, and it is more important than ever to focus on local business growth and expansion. We decided to place more emphasis on entrepreneurship efforts where the chances of success are greater than relying on attracting out-of-state, or country, projects for future economic growth.
Forming partnerships
The alliance is a virtual partnership that includes a number of key organizations throughout the county including Stark State College, the Small Business Development Center at the Kent State University Stark Campus, Technology Accelerator Alliance, Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, ystark!, JumpStart, Walsh University, the University of Mount Union and the SDB.
Initial funding to help establish the new alliance has been provided by the Stark Community Foundation and from American Electric Power to the SDB.
During the same time, SDB has been working with a large group of business leaders to create a new angel fund to help provide pre-seed capital to companies seeking equity to help start or grow their businesses.
The new fund, the Impact Angel Fund, has been successful in raising nearly $1 million in private capital from a multi-county area in Northeast Ohio, including Stark, Tuscarawas, Columbiana, Harrison, Richland and Wayne.
In addition, the SDB has also assisted the Impact Angel Fund in receiving a matching award from the Ohio Third Frontier Project in Columbus.
The fund, which is administered by the SDB, will be organized as a private limited liability corporation that will be operated by the fund’s investors themselves.
With the prospects of the Impact Angel Fund having almost $2 million in the fund, these funds can be used to invest in approximately four to five technology-based companies.
As a positive sign and in preparation of the funds formal launch, all three parties have already met with and identified seven technology-based companies that have potential to receive funding. ●
Steve Paquette is president and CEO of the Stark Development Board, a private, nonprofit business organization engaged in economic development activities in Stark County. Its mission is to retain, expand and attract business investment in this area.
