​The Champaign Economic Partnership and Champaign County Chamber of Commerce recently helped two businesses celebrate their new downtown Urbana locations with ribbon cuttings.  And the CEP began a new tradition—presenting “open” banners to new businesses.

Roxy and Ashley are happy with the help they received from the CEP and plan to refer others.
 
If you need assistance locating space for your new or growing business, or other resources, please contact Marcia Bailey at (937) 653-7200, stop in the office at 3 Monument Square Urbana or send an email to [email protected]

First Posted on UrbanaCitizen.com: 9:59 pm - May 20th, 2016
By Joshua Keeran - [email protected]
Hughey & Phillips, an Urbana-based company specializing in obstruction lighting, announced Tuesday it’s rolling out a new product line on June 1 known as the DC HORIZON LED Series.

According to a company press release, the new line features medium-intensity strobe LED-based obstruction lighting systems for the daytime and nighttime lighting of tall structures such as communication towers, wind turbines and smokestacks that pose issues for aerial navigation.

“Our customers have come to rely on Hughey & Phillips to provide the next generation of cutting-edge LED obstruction lighting solutions,” said Jim Sullivan, vice president of sales for Hughey & Phillips. “The new H&P DC HORIZON LED Series fills the need for both daytime and nighttime strobe lighting technology and outperforms legacy incandescent fixtures by substantial margins.”

The new line, which has been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, features a white strobe LED system for daytime use as well as a red-flashing LED beacon for nighttime use.

The company, located at 240 W. Twain Ave., is marketing the new DC HORIZON line as the “most innovative products available in the market” in that the lighting system is safe, energy efficient and a green energy alternative to alternating current (AC)-powered LED beacons.

“The new DC HORIZON can be powered in a number of ways including DC (direct current) battery or solar panel to create green lighting systems for use in all obstruction applications,” the release states. “They also provide an increased level of safety on the structures they light by being DC powered, which virtually eliminates the possibility of electrocution or electric shock while installing or servicing the light.”

Local impact
Champaign Economic Partnership (CEP) Economic Development Director Marcia Bailey called the new DC HORIZON LED Series being manufactured in Urbana a “win-win” for everyone involved.

“Obviously, when any company gets a new product line, that is seen as a huge retention piece for our county in terms of helping to retain local jobs even if no new jobs are created,” she said.

Sullivan added the new product line won’t result in new jobs initially, but as volume increases over the next year or two, the company could add a few positions.

Along with manufacturing the new LED series, Hughey & Phillips’s in-house engineering department designed the product, which took 18 months to develop.

Having engineers experience this type of success within the county, Bailey said, is important to attracting both skilled individuals and potential employers to the county.

​“When we are looking at our future workforce, it’s always tough to get engineers to work in smaller communities like ours, so the fact that their engineering department designed this product line is a big deal for local groups to know that this type of work is being done in the county,” Bailey said.

Take advantage of these great upcoming workshops and programs offered at the Ohio Small Business Development Center in Springfield, Ohio!  For more information on these events, visit the SBDC website.

Business Start-Up
Small Business Start-Up 101   Register
Thursday, May 12, 2016 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
Business Start-Up 101: Learn 10 basic steps to start a small business and organize a plan of action for success. Prepare for the many challenges in this session; Am I ready to start a business? Does my business make sense? How do I secure financing? What are the different types of business (Sole Proprietor, Limited Liability Company, Corporation/S-Corp,?) What taxes do I pay? What are some issues I may not have considered? Resources and tools will be shared to understand the essential key areas as you begin a small business.
Speaker: Lori Minnich

Small Business Start-Up 101   Register
Tuesday, May 17, 2016 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM
Business Start-Up 101: Learn 10 basic steps to start a small business and organize a plan of action for success. Prepare for the many challenges in this session; Am I ready to start a business? Does my business make sense? How do I secure financing? What are the different types of business (Sole Proprietor, Limited Liability Company, Corporation/S-Corp,?) What taxes do I pay? What are some issues I may not have considered? Resources and tools will be shared to understand the essential key areas as you begin a small business.
Speaker: Lori Minnich

HR Basics for Small Business...must know to grow and profit!   Register
Thursday, May 19, 2016 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM
Are you interested in the bottom line? Although HR is not a favorite management operation, business are made up of people and understanding the basics of HR will keep your company up-to-date on employment laws/compliance, management trends, employment best practices and sustainable policies. This session will provide an overview on the essential HR components insuring your business complies to mandated laws and regulations; small business can not afford to get HR wrong!
Speaker: Cherie Lamborn, SPHR; SHRM-SCP Human Resource Director

The Small Business Development Series- Starting Right and Beyond   Register
Tuesday, May 24, 2016 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Small businesses need resources to start, grow and sustain. Gain insight to the legal, accounting and insurance requirements for a small business. Seminar 2 in the series of 6. Each individual monthly seminar will help you enhance the start-up and/or growth of your small business.
Speaker: TBD

The Small Business Development Series- Building Banking Relationships   Register
Tuesday, June 28, 2016 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Small businesses need resources to start, grow and sustain. Gain insight to the process of access to capital and building bank relationships. Seminar 3 in the series of 6. Each individual monthly seminar will help you enhance the start-up and/or growth of your small business.

The Small Business Development Series- Credit Report/Credit Score   Register
Tuesday, July 26, 2016 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Small businesses need resources to start, grow and sustain. Gain insight to the importance of good business credit and money management for a small business. Seminar 5 in the series of 6. Each individual monthly seminar will help you enhance the start-up and/or growth of your small business.

Find More Events....

Ohio SBDC Location
​300 E Auburn Ave, Springfield, OH 45505