Veronica Cook-Euell knows all about starting up and running a business.

She now is coordinating a new program that shortly will help strengthen up to 20 African-American and Hispanic-owned small businesses in Summit, Portage and Medina counties.

The new Partnership for the Minority Business Accelerator has started accepting applications for a free, two-year program aimed at minority-owned small businesses.

The for-profit businesses must be at least 1 year old with gross annual revenue of between $50,000 and $2.5 million. Deadline to apply is May 2. The program's offices are at the Akron Urban League headquarters on Vernon Odom Boulevard.

The program might be the only one of its kind in Ohio, say members of its steering committee.

Cook-Euell, the program manager, expects she will be able to relate well to the business owners who apply. The 46-year-old Copley resident created a company, In-Souls, to make and sell shoe inserts imprinted with biblical passages; the business also sold spiritual merchandise.

''I was an entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, you know the challenges, the highs and the lows of being an entrepreneur and running a business,'' Cook-Euell said. ''I truly have great compassion for entrepreneurs.''

Her goal, with the program's partners, is to make sure that the small businesses they bring in as clients from the three counties are successful and meet their goals, she said.

Program partners are the Akron Urban League, Kent State University and the Akron chapter of SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives. The business accelerator is funded by a $345,580 grant from the Akron-based GAR Foundation.

Work on the minority business accelerator program began about 11/2 years ago as a way to meet one of four economic development goals identified by the Northeast Ohio Voices & Choices program aimed at jump-starting the regional economy.

''We expect to be flooded with applications,'' Cook-Euell said. ''We've done a massive outreach effort. We expect an overwhelming amount of applicants. We will identify up to 20 candidates who will go through the program. It's a two-year program.''

The program will help leverage the talents and abilities of the Akron Urban League, SCORE and Kent State, said Christine Mayer, chief financial officer of the $180 million GAR Foundation.

There is a need for this kind of small-business program, she said. (The Northeast Ohio Fund for Our Economic Future donated $1 million to start a similar business accelerator program for minority-owned businesses that have annual revenues of $2.5 million or greater, she said.)

The GAR Foundation believes the $384,000 it has invested in this new accelerator program will also leverage other dollars from the program participants, she said.

''I think the foundation is really excited about this program,'' Mayer said. ''These three organizations really hit
the ball out of the park in terms of operating as a team.''

Kent State's role is in part to provide marketing support and the resources of its small business development center and related programs, said Patricia Book, vice president for regional development at the university.

The accelerator's goal is to show that the companies who participate do such things as add employees, improve profits and introduce products to new markets, she said.

There might be more than 3,000 African-American and Hispanic-owned business in the three-county area, said Marty Oppenheimer, outreach chairman for the Akron SCORE chapter.

''There's a tremendous opportunity to serve businesses that are both relatively small and medium sized,'' Oppenheimer said.

Any kind of for-profit business can apply to the program, he said.

Businesses accepted into the program need to commit to two years, Oppenheimer said. The businesses will be able to take advantage of mentoring through SCORE, educational opportunities at Kent State and interaction with the business programs offered through the Akron Urban League, he said.

''It's all inclusive, and the entire program is free,'' Oppenheimer said.

Businesses that do not qualify for the specialized accelerator program can still use SCORE's free and confidential services as well as the available small-business resources at Kent State and the Urban League, he said. ''No one will be turned away,'' he added.

''It's really a unique approach to leverage the abilities of these three organizations,'' said Gary Sutherland, Akron SCORE chairman.

''We know in the state of Ohio, nothing like this exists,'' Oppenheimer said. ''It's unique in the state, maybe in the country. . . . We're very optimistic this will succeed and be expanded (into other counties).''

The program is a significant achievement for the community and for the Akron Urban League, said Bernett Williams, president and chief executive officer of the organization.

The Urban League's mission is to uplift the community in the area of employment, training and education, she said. The accelerator program will expand the organization's services into Portage and Medina counties, she said.

A lot of the business accelerator training and related efforts will take place in the Urban League's Akron offices, but the program will go elsewhere, too, Williams said.

''We'll have an opportunity to have someone positioned in Medina County. Same thing in Portage County,'' she said. ''We can meet with them in those counties.''

The organizations behind the accelerator program are anxious to get it going, Williams said. ''We know that we're going to be stronger with a partnership, all of us together doing this work and bringing the expertise of all of these organizations together.''