The Training, Research, and Assistance Cooperative Extension Service (TRACES) was formed to provide a central source of technical and training resources, knowledge, and avenues of government funding for the benefit of businesses and small to mid-sized industries in southeastern Ohio. The 16 organizations involved in TRACES are educational institutions, government agencies, and chambers of commerce in a five-county area. TRACES has brought greater productivity to the region in the areas of training, research, and technical assistance through activities such as the following: TRACES provided for faculty assistance and state funding for a manufacturer of automobile parts that had to improve quality control to remain competitive; arranged for a metallurgist to solve an auto parts manufacturer's problem with weld breakages; and helped arrange for a supply of solvents needed by a community action agency to separate copper from the material in which it had been clad. TRACES has been accepted by business and by state government leaders concerned with the flow of government services and has received an award from the Ohio Board of Regents for developing business, industry, government, and educational linkages. (HB)