Michael Bowers

Michael Bowers is best known in both the private and public sectors for his expertise in venture capital and social media.

Bowers spent the first 10 years of his professional career in banking and financial services. In 1999, Michael joined the GreaterColumbus Chamber in the position of Executive Director of the Columbus Venture Network. In this capacity, Michael has led the organization’s efforts to increase the level of equity financing available to early stage businesses. In 2002, Michael joined the Ohio Small Business Development Center (SBDC) as a Lead Center Director bringing his background in the investment space to help prepare entrepreneurs to seek and obtain equity financing. In 2004, Bowers led the move of the SBDC to Columbus State Community College. While at his new host, he became an early adopter of social media to reach out into the small business community to build activity within his center.

During his tenure as Director of the SBDC at Columbus State Community College, Bower’s staff
and center have been continuously recognized for excellence in service and innovation. In 2008,
the SBDC at CSCC was named the winner of the U.S. Small Business Administration's Service
Excellence and Innovation Center Award for both the State of Ohio and the SBA’s five-state
Region V. In addition, the center was recognized as the Top SBDC in Ohio for performance
by the State of Ohio. In that same year, Bowers, himself, was named Ohio’s SBDC "State Star"
by the National Association of Small Business Development Centers. More recently, in 2011,
the center’s Business Advisors won top honors in the top MTSBDC, top SBDC Individual
Performance, and SBDC Advocacy categories, with Bowers winning the SBDC Innovation
Award. During this year, Bowers was also recognized and recruited by the national Association
of Small Business Development Centers to address attendees at its annual conference on how to utilize social media to build activity and how to measure its effectiveness.

Michael Bowers holds a Bachelor’s degree from The University of North Alabama, with majors
in Economics and Finance and a Master’s degree from The Ohio State University in Public
Administration.