JOHNSON ANNOUNCES OHIO CERTIFIED BUSINESS ADVISOR PROGRAM PARTNERSHIP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2006

Columbus, OH -- Lieutenant Governor Bruce Johnson today announced that the University of Toledo College of Business Administration (COBA) will administer the state’s Certified Business Advisor® (CBA) program, which is available through the Small Business Development Centers of Ohio (SBDC). University of Toledo COBA faculty will counsel CBA candidates, administer exams and award certification.

“I’d like to congratulate the University of Toledo COBA on its partnership with the Ohio SBDCs in developing and nurturing Ohio’s future businesses leaders,” said Lieutenant Governor Bruce Johnson, who also serves as director of the Ohio Department of Development. “Our educational institutions are key to the growth and success of Ohio businesses as they develop tomorrow’s leaders who will be required to rise to a higher standard of entrepreneurial and international competence when competing in the 21st century.”

The SBDC of Ohio program provides consulting and training assistance to small businesses and emerging entrepreneurs to promote growth, expansion, innovation, increased productivity and improved management of small businesses. In 2005, Certified Business Advisors at the state’s 35 SBDCs consulted more than 12,000 clients and helped to create and retain more than 50,000 jobs.

The CBA program qualifies SBDC professionals to counsel entrepreneurs through graduate level instruction in such subjects as entrepreneurship, accounting/finance, marketing and human resources. Since its inception in 1995, more than 300 Ohio SBDC counselors have been certified through the CBA program. Additionally, six states have adopted Ohio’s CBA program as an integral component of their professional development programs, bringing the number of current CBA registrants to more than 100.

The SBDCs of Ohio are supported through a partnership between the Ohio Department of Development, the U.S. Small Business Administration and several of Ohio’s chambers of commerce, colleges and universities, and economic development agencies.