A mobile golf simulator based in Chillicothe has received $18,000 to help it launch across four southern Ohio counties, the Chillicothe Gazette reported on Wednesday, November 11, in a story crediting a community announcement from the Joint Economic Development Initiative of Southern Ohio.
Hot Shots Entertainment LLC received the funding from Mission Conversion Services Alliance, according to the announcement reported by the Chillicothe Gazette. The business plans to bring its interactive golf simulator to events in Ross, Pike, Scioto and Jackson counties.
The simulator is the first of its kind in the region, according to the announcement. Hot Shots plans to make it available for fundraisers, fairs, festivals, weddings, parties and other private events — the kinds of gatherings where a portable attraction can be booked by the event rather than visited at a fixed location.
Tammy Eallonardo, director of Greater Chillicothe & Ross County Development, praised the venture in a statement quoted by the Chillicothe Gazette: “Hot Shots Entertainment is a great example of southern Ohio’s entrepreneurial spirit and the expansion of niche markets that are emerging across southern Ohio.” She added, in the same statement: “MCSA is a respected partner of economic development and is keen to support small business across a wide range of industries. We appreciate their willingness to invest in our local economies.”
The award is the second Mission Conversion Services Alliance-backed investment in a Chillicothe venture reported this week, following a $32,000 award for a downtown business incubator — a pattern of small, targeted grants aimed at getting local businesses started rather than landing a single large employer.
A mobile model also changes the economics for the hosts who book it. A fundraiser or festival does not need a building, a course or a season — it needs an attraction that arrives, sets up and draws a crowd for a day, which is the niche the announcement says Hot Shots was created to fill across the four counties.
More information about the business is available at thehotshotsentertainment.com, and the company can also be found on Facebook, according to the announcement.
What happens next is the launch itself: Hot Shots taking bookings across the four counties it plans to serve, starting in Ross County. Event organizers in Pike, Scioto and Jackson counties are the company’s stated next market as the simulator begins appearing at fairs, fundraisers and private events.