Ohio -- Starting a business is challenging to say the least.  Starting a business in a rural community can sometimes magnify those hurdles. 

There is a small business in Southeast Ohio that has created a pretty cool product that's turned into growing success. 

Just outside Athens, the home of Ohio University, sits a small and quiet community called the Plains.

 

 

 

Down a rural road you can find Stirling Ultracold.

They make very low temperature freezers which are used to store biological material.

The company's customers include big pharmaceutical companies, universities like Harvard, and hospitals like Nationwide Children's Hospital.

 

 

The company says the multimillion dollar business now employs about 100 people, mostly locals. 

While the CEO, Neill Lane, admits there have been some challenges having a rural location, he also says it has major advantages. 

"We're in a relative sense very important," he explains.  "We wouldn't get this attention if we were in Columbus and we certainly wouldn't get this attention if we were on the east or west coast."

Lane says the state of Ohio does a really good job supporting entrepreneurs in rural areas, and they have been awarded specific grants and loans to help them grow.