Byron Tudor and Summer Tyler, owners of Environmental Partners, a commercial and industrial heating and air conditioning firm, have been selected as the second place winners of the Ohio Small Business Development Center at the Clermont Chamber and UC Clermont College’s first Business Plan Competition.

Environmental Partners entered in the entrepreneur category and won $2,500 as the second prize winners of the competition. The firm is located in the Village of Batavia.

“We were delighted to have been chosen by the judges,” said Tyler. “We were encouraged to participate by the amount of support from established businesses as acted as sponsors and from the organizers of the contest. Writing the plan helped us strengthen our business.”

Tyler attended a series of free classes offered by the University of Cincinnati’s Clermont College, to individuals interested in starting a business, before writing her plan. The classes were developed in conjunction with the Ohio Small Business Development Center (OSBDC) at the Clermont Chamber. John Melvin of the OSBDC and Jeffery Bauer, DBA, of UC Clermont created the classes to encourage and promote business planning.

Tyler said, “According to the SBA, small business accounts for 99.7% of all employer firms in the United States, with 65% of net new jobs over the past 17 years. Small businesses are vital to our local economy and business planning is crucial to a business’s success. There is a great deal of help available to small businesses start-ups in our community through the SODC at the Clermont Chamber.”

Sponsors of the competition included: Bethel Building & Loan, CenterBank, Kamphaus, Henning & Hood CPA Inc., Kinker-Eveleigh Insurance Agency, LCNB National Bank Ohio Small Business Development Centers, Park National Bank, RiverHills Bank, UC Clermont College, and Ohio Second Congressional District Representative Jean Schmidt.