Ohio Enterprise Appalachia Offers Entrepreneurs an Ideal Location Choice With Easy Access to Supply Chains and Markets

COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a new Inc. magazine white paper, Ohio's Enterprise Appalachian Region – located within 600 miles of 60 percent of the U.S. population – offers entrepreneurs a competitive advantage by providing ready access to commercial networks in Ohio and surrounding states.

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"Enterprise Benchmarks: Real Best Practices for Supply Chain Optimization," is the third in a series of Inc. white papers designed to help entrepreneurs evaluate potential locations for starting or growing a small business. The series explores four criteria – access to supply chain and markets, access to business capital and support services, access to knowledge and labor and access to a balanced life – that small business experts have established as keys to creating an ideal location for business development. Entrepreneurs can enhance their success by choosing a location with all of these criteria: Ohio's Enterprise Appalachia.

One company that has thrived as a result of Enterprise Appalachia's access to supply chain and markets is ED MAP, a provider of fulfillment services for textbooks and course materials. From its 100,000-square-foot facility in southeast Ohio's Appalachian foothills, ED Map delivers to major publishers and more than half of the U.S. population within one to three days using affordable ground delivery.

"Being located in Enterprise Appalachia has enabled ED MAP to achieve profitability more quickly," said Dr. Michael Mark, founder and CEO. "Every day, we push about 300 boxes out of our warehouse, so being close to a large percentage of the U.S. population makes our customer service better, cheaper and faster."

Starting up in Enterprise Appalachia has allowed ED MAP to rapidly grow from 3 to more than 100 employees.

"Locating your business in Enterprise Appalachia allows you to access strong supply chain and ready markets for your products and services," said Ed Burghard, executive director of the Ohio Business Development Coalition. "World-class transportation and logistics systems provide cost-effective access to domestic and international markets. Enterprise Appalachia meets the ideal location choice criteria to build your business and love your life in Appalachian Ohio."

Inc.'s "Enterprise Benchmarks: Real Best Practices for Supply Chain Optimization," outlines 10 steps for companies to manage the continuum of materials, information and finances needed to manage a product or service from concept to delivery.

Visit www.ohiomeansbusiness.com/enterprise_appalachia to learn how Ohio's Enterprise Appalachia delivers the ideal location criteria for business start-ups: access to supply chain and markets, access to capital, access to knowledge and labor and access to a balanced life.

About the Ohio Business Development Coalition

The Ohio Business Development Coalition is a nonprofit organization that provides marketing strategy and implementation to support Ohio's economic development efforts. For more information, visit www.ohiomeansbusiness.com.

SOURCE Ohio Business Development Coalition