Contact: Leesa Brown, (740) 593-1043

Editors: A photo of David Wilhelm speaking at the panel discussion is available on the Web at www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/VENTURE.JPG

ATHENS, Ohio (April 18, 2000) -- Several Ohio banks today pledged financial support for the new Appalachian Ohio Development Fund, a venture-capital effort developed by an Ohio University alumnus and supported with a $2 million investment from the university.

The Appalachian Ohio Development Fund will provide $15 million in capital to create or expand businesses involved in food production, tourism, technology or manufacturing in Ohio's 29 counties in the Appalachian region. Appalachia traditionally has faced economic hardships, including high unemployment rates and a lack of capital for business development. Officials from Bank One, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Fifth Third Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati gathered at Ohio University for a panel discussion about the initiative and to announce their investments, which will boost the fund to more than half of its goal.

"There are so many people in Appalachia who have the talent, the enterprise and the vision, but what they lack is the money," said alumnus and fund creator David Wilhelm of Wilhelm and Conlon Public Strategies, a Chicago-based public policy and business development firm. "We're not about bringing in plants or factories from outside. We're about building on the indigenous assets of this region."

Other participants in the discussion included Jesse White Jr., federal co-chairman of the Appalachian Regional Commission, U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, Ohio University Vice President for Finance Richard Siemer and Ohio University Rural Entrepreneurship Institute Director Hugh Sherman.

In December, Ohio University's Board of Trustees backed a decision to invest $2 million from private endowment funds. As part of its commitment to the fund's mission, the university also is providing technical assistance to small businesses in southeastern Ohio through its Rural Entrepreneurship Institute.

"We want to do this by tapping into our alumni and hiring consultants to head up this effort," Sherman said. "We also have a lot of students willing to do internships at companies."

Wilhelm expects more financial commitments from regional banks, corporations and pension funds in the coming weeks and hopes to begin working with small businesses beginning July 1. A member of Wilhelm's staff, Ohio University alumnus Paul Benedict, will serve the region out of a campus office.

Business development leaders hope this type of collaboration among government agencies, higher education institutions and private banks will serve as a model for rural areas throughout the country.

"This is redefining what economic development is all about," said White of the Appalachian Regional Commission. "We need to empower our people and help them build businesses. A lot of Fortune 500 companies started in basements, and now I want them to be Appalachian basements."

Karen Mocker of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland said bank officials decided to invest in the fund because they believe it will help jumpstart new business development.

"We have an obligation that all citizens participate in the economic system, and we really see venture capital as a key tool in Appalachia," she said.

Other banks that have made investments are Firstar Bank, Huntington Banks, First National Bank of Zanesville and National City Banks.

Prior to the panel discussion, Strickland and White toured the Appalachian Center for Economic Networks (ACEnet), a community development corporation that works with local entrepreneurs and businesses to develop and market their products. They met with entrepreneurs from southeastern Ohio, including a baker, a ceramic artist, a custom teddy bear maker, a salsa manufacturer and a family business owner who talked about the challenges of starting a business in a region with little available capital.