WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) recently announced that $894,358 in federal funds has been awarded to the Voinovich School at Ohio University to spur small business growth in 19 southeastern Ohio counties.

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) funding will allow the Voinovich School to leverage private investment, expand business assistance, create jobs, bring new products to market, and improve the economy in southeast Ohio.

“Ohio University is an anchor of southeast Ohio’s economic development and these funds will help the Voinovich School create opportunities for talented entrepreneurs and small business owners,” Brown said. “These resources will keep students in the region and bolster Ohio University’s reputation for innovation and economic leadership. As we focus on both economic recovery and building new businesses, organizations like the Voinovich School and Ohio University keep jobs in the community while generating regional development.”

“This new award from the U.S. Economic Development Administration will greatly enhance our work to grow the economy in southeast Ohio by creating more technology companies and, most importantly, jobs in our region,” said Roderick J. McDavis, President of Ohio University. “The University is committed to providing business development services to entrepreneurs in our region and to facilitating the transfer of faculty research and creative activity to the marketplace.”

Brown communicated to EDA the importance of making this kind of early venture capital investment on a regional level to support emerging entrepreneurs with the goal of creating new small businesses and jobs. He also worked to ensure broad-scale regional collaboration and coordination in these efforts to capitalize on all of the regional assets that strive to promote innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Voinovich School provides business development services to existing and start-up companies in a 19-county region of southeastern Ohio.

A variety of business services — including business planning, marketing, legal and executive recruitment — will help regional companies, students, and faculty to access entrepreneurial networks and early-stage capital to bring jobs to the region.