Rising 'Star': SBDC's Holt named top specialist in state

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Steve Holt

The national Association of Small Business Development Centers has named Steve Holt, director of the Northwest SBDC office in Chillicothe, as its State Star award winner for Missouri.

Holt will accept the award Sept. 19 at ASBDC's annual meeting in Denver. The distinction means he is considered the top-performing SBDC specialist in the state in terms of contributions and commitment to small business in the region he serves.

"I am most pleased that this award required one of my fellow SBDC counselors to make a nomination," Holt said. "It's just recognition of the work we've done over the past two and a half years to serve our clients and start new initiatives in support of small business."

SBDCs are attached to institutions of higher learning throughout the United States, and their primary mission is to create economic impact through counseling and training for businesses with fewer than 500 employees.

Northwest SBDC comprises three offices that each fall under the direction of Northwest Missouri State University and the University of Missouri Extension in cooperation with the U.S. Small Business Administration. The Northwest region covers 17 northwest Missouri counties and also has office in Maryville and St. Joseph.

Holt, a native of Trenton, became director of the Chillicothe SBDC in early 2005. His primary responsibility is to provide counseling and training services to entrepreneurs and owners of existing small businesses across an area that includes Carroll, Livingston, Grundy, Mercer, Caldwell and Daviess counties.

He serves as a resource person for the University of Missouri Extension Community Enterprise and Entrepreneurial Development (CEED) program and has played a key role in developing the HomeTown Competitiveness programs in Brookfield and Trenton.

Holt also tailored a number of training programs to meet local market needs and helped organize and promote the Youth Entrepreneurship Summit, which will return to Chillicothe for its second year this fall.

Before joining SBDC, Holt spent more than 30 years with companies engaged in steel-building manufacturing, agricultural equipment manufacturing and food processing as a buyer, materials manager, plant manager, vice-president of manufacturing and general manager. He has also farmed and owned and operated several small businesses.

He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia and taught economics at North Central Missouri College in Trenton.

Certified by the Kauffman Foundation as a FastTrac trainer, Holt is also certified as a trainer for Energizing Entrepreneurship in Rural America. He recently presented at a national workshop on Energizing Entrepreneurship in Rural America.

The Northwest SBDC region stretches south from Atchison County to Platte County and eastward to Livingston County. For more information about Northwest SBDC, contact the office in your area:

· Chillicothe, Steve Holt, 660.646.6920, sbdchill@greenhills.net.

· St. Joseph, Rebecca Evans, 816.232.4461, evanssbdc@saintjoseph.com.

· Maryville, Frank Veemnan, 660.562.1701, fveeman@nwmissouri.edu.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone (660) 562-1704
Fax (660) 562-1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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