51ĀŅĀ×

51ĀŅĀ×ā€™s (SBDC), part of the George Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service, announced that 2024 was a record-breaking year for the program, which serves small businesses in a 13-county area in southeast Ohio. The SBDC continues to surpass impact goals provided by the Ohio Department of Development and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Highlights for 2024 include:

ā€¢ More than $20 million in capital infusion, the largest amount to date and blowing past the initial goal of $9 million.

ā€¢ One hundred and one new business starts, the most to date.

ā€¢ Currently assisting more than 1,000 clients, the most to date.

ā€œThe economic impact our clients achieved with our assistance resulted in the best year in our program history,ā€ said Lissa Jollick, regional manager for the OHIO SBDC. ā€œIt is so much fun to watch and hear about our clientsā€™ successful projects.ā€

To cap off the historic year, at the Ohio SBDC statewide convention in November, the SBDC was recognized as a leader in client satisfaction and performance, receiving the Best Customer Satisfaction award for being the highest-rated center in the state with a combined net promotor score of 100% and a high overall customer satisfaction rating.

ā€œIt is extremely rare that an organization achieves a 100% net promotor score (NPS),ā€ Jollick added. ā€œThe net promotor score is a metric based on a single question to our clients on the likelihood that they would promote our services to a friend or colleague. The OHIO SBDC team works hard and puts their all into helping our clients achieve their dreams of starting and growing businesses.ā€

The Small Business Development Center at the Voinovich School is funded by the ,  and 51ĀŅĀ×. This funding enables the SBDC to provide no-cost, confidential business assistance by Certified Business Advisors to for-profit businesses in a 13-county area in Southeast Ohio. In addition to hosting the SBDC, the Voinovich School provides businesses access to , an assistance program for technology-based companies, and , a program to assist businesses in securing government contracts.