Glenn B. Fordyce Foundation gives to Grow! Highland County

Grow! Highland County would like to announce the receipt of a donation of $10,000 made by the Glenn B. Fordyce Foundation in honor of Mr. Glenn B. Fordyce.

Mr. Fordyce is remembered throughout Highland County for his many donations made anonymously. He was a very generous man, one who wanted to help meet the needs of others – and without fanfare.

Mr. Fordyce died in 2013.

Mr. Fordyce was an outstanding employee of Rotary Forms Press, Inc. in Hillsboro and his work became his passion. In his off time, he would work on some of his dreams and passions in his garage at home and started The G. Fordyce Company in 1980.

He moved from his garage to a 2,500-square-foot building on Willettsville Pike in Hillsboro and a few years later built a new manufacturing building on Hobart Drive.

Those dreams turned into a multi-million-dollar business of manufacturing equipment for the printing industry. He was committed to providing his customers with superior quality, unmatched service, and a support system, second to none.

He was a member of the Honorary Black Leaf Society and the Highland District Hospital Foundation Board of Trustees.

The Glenn B. Fordyce Foundation has chosen to allow this release to encourage others to donate to this worthy project. Their goal is to support philanthropy and volunteerism of civic, social, and fraternal projects.

Grow! Highland County is a joint effort of the Highland County Chamber of Commerce and Southern State Community College. The Highland County Chamber of Commerce managed the program on an interim basis for the last few months.

Recently, Peter Pence was hired as the facilitator. The two prior enterprise facilitators who have been part of the program have moved on, both to pursue their own entrepreneurial passions.

The concept of Grow! Highland County is quite simple: Work with aspiring entrepreneurs to realize their dream by connecting them to human resources who can assist with the product/service, marketing, and financial management of their business.

The program follows the Enterprise Facilitation model developed by Ernesto Sirolli and is the only one of its kind operating in Ohio.

The key to the success of Grow! Highland County is the active participation of the local Resource Board. The Resource Board members-business people within Highland County who are successful in their own lines of work and passionate about their local economy and community-step in to mentor the budding entrepreneurs by sharing their expertise-free of charge.

After initial meetings with the enterprise facilitator, Resource Board members are recruited to the project based on the areas of need for the business and expertise of the Resource Board members. All Resource Board members go through training to understand the basic premises of the program, and sign a confidentiality agreement-at each monthly board meeting- to ensure clients’ information stays on an “as needed to know” basis.

The program also partners with the regional Small Business Development Center and other small business resources available throughout the area. All shared information is completely
confidential to respect the sensitive nature of the plans for each business.

The Board thanks Dianna Fordyce and the Glenn B. Fordyce Foundation.

To Reach Grow! Highland County, contact Peter Pence at 937-403-1488 or pete_pence@yahoo.com.