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Local business owners to governor: Show us the money

Strickland addresses business’ credit concerns during visit to Hamilton.

Gov. Ted Strickland visited the BizTech Center in Hamilton Wednesday, Feb. 24, to discuss his two statewide initiatives for small business.

Staff photo by Nick Daggy Gov. Ted Strickland visited the BizTech Center in Hamilton Wednesday, Feb. 24, to discuss his two statewide initiatives for small business.

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Photos: Strickland visits area

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Updated 8:38 AM Thursday, February 25, 2010

HAMILTON — If the governor was not fully aware of the credit issues plaguing small business today, the entrepreneurs of Hamilton certainly set the record straight.

“Governor, I have the capability and I have the experience. Now I just need the money,” said Angela Denmark of Denmark Court Reporting, a small business operating inside the BizTech Center in Hamilton.

Gov. Ted Strickland made a stop at the center Wednesday, Feb. 24, to tour the facility and discuss initiatives he is pushing at the state level to grow small business. A common theme from business owners there was a lack of capital.

In response to entrepreneur Denise Reier’s question, “Did you bring your checkbook?”, Strickland said he was aware of the credit crunch prompted by the poor economy.

“I believe this is the single greatest inhibitor to recovery, this lack of capital,” he said.

During his prepared remarks to a crowd of about 30 people, Strickland plugged his Small Business Growth Partnership, a clearinghouse he wants to build to connect businesses with working capital.

He also mentioned his Build Your Own Business program, in which community colleges would offer Ohioans courses on starting a business and up to $5,000 in startup loans.

Marilyn Collmer, manager of the BizTech Center, a small-business incubator designed to assist small businesses startup, suggested those loans also be made available through incubators.

After the event, Strickland said he “did not want to make a promise” but would consider the feasibility of the idea.

A shining light of success in the small business scene was Chris Bailey, the owner of a cheesecake bakery in Middletown. Six years ago after suffering a heart attack and a stroke, he decided life was too short. Five-hundred recipes and nine months of experimenting later, he started Bailey’s Cheesecakes, with the help of the Small Business Development Council and the Ohio Bureau of Vocational Services. They helped him get the capital needed to buy a 40-quart mixer and large convection oven to do baking in the shorter time frame required by his heart condition.

“I love my city and I would give anything to have my cheesecakes associated with Middletown,” he said. Bailey just signed a contract to sell his product at Dorothy Lane Market, a gourmet grocer.

Strickland hugged Bailey on his way out after hearing his story.

“I have to work not to get too emotional, but that just made my day,” Bailey said.

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