IED Texas

Anna Borrego joined the San Antonio Small Business Development Center in 2007.

Anna is the Stakeholder Communications Coordinator and is responsible for analyzing, compiling, and reporting economic impacts of SBDC services. She also communicates SBDC clients' successes to various stakeholder groups.  She has over 14 years of extensive customer service experience.  

Anna earned a BBA in Marketing from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio.   She also holds the Certified Administrative Professional designation.

Ashley Diaz joined the San Antonio Small Business Development Center, Rural Business Program in July 2010.

Ashley is the Administrative Analyst for the Rural Business Program and is responsible for gathering and analyzing information on a wide range of topics.  Ashley is also responsible for developing marketing strategies and working closely with external stakeholders to promote businesses in small communities.

Ashley earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in General Business and a minor in Management from the University of Texas San Antonio in December 2007.

Mr. Salgado is the Director of the South-West Texas Border Small Business Development Center Network, which is hosted by UTSA’s Institute for Economic Development. The program serves 79 counties with field offices in San Antonio, Austin/San Marcos, Victoria, Corpus Christi, Edinburg, Eagle Pass, Laredo, Alpine, San Angelo, and El Paso, including two specialty centers in San Antonio.

Mr. Salgado’s professional experience includes small business management and ownership, strategic planning, organizational leadership, and entrepreneurial management. He holds an M.B.A. from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio and a B.B.A. from Eastern New Mexico University. Mr. Salgado is married and has two children living in Dallas, Texas. He shares his expertise and experience with numerous professional and trade organizations.

Aaron Sams is an Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)/Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) veteran who began his career in the United States Air Force, where he served as a contracting officer in charge of acquisitions for materials, services, and construction related projects.

Aaron serves as a Senior Business Development Counselor at the Contracting Resource Center (CRC) for the Veterans Assistance and Services Program (VASP), providing free business counseling services to veteran entrepreneur clients.

Previously, Aaron used his government contracting experience administering contracts for a large Fortune 500 company that provided environmental remediation, energy efficiency, base operations, and infrastructure services on Air Force, Army, and Navy installations worldwide.

Aaron is a graduate of Wayland Baptist University, where he earned a B.S. in Occupational Education with a specialization in contracts management.

Berenice is a Sr. International Business Consultant, at the International Trade Center. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Management with concentration in International Business from the University of Northern Iowa, and is a Certified Global Business Professional. She joined the International Trade Center in 2005 and has also served as International Market Research Specialist, Interns Coordinator and Client Services Coordinator.

She is a member of the North American Small Business International Trade Educators. She is bilingual and bicultural having worked and lived in both the United States and México.

Ben Garza joined the San Antonio Small Business Development Center in 2007.

As a Business Advisor, Ben provides his clients with confidential, one-on-one advising, specializing in business plans and intellectual property development, strategic/tactical planning, sales and marketing, accounting and finance. 

He has over 15 years of small business ownership & management experience, primarily in consultative business solutions and private investment funding.  In addition, he has more than 20 years technical and management consulting experience, as well as experience in mergers and acquisitions, preparing due diligence packages and validating business models for investor groups.

He holds a BBA in Accounting and an MBA in Finance both from Our Lady of the Lake University.

Ben supports clients located south of San Antonio, in Atascosa, Frio, Medina, and Wilson counties. 

Robert Velasquez has served as the Southwest Trade Adjustment Assistance Center director since 1990 and has extensive experience in the area of economic and business development at the federal, state, and local levels.

His experience includes work on Capitol Hill in the U.S. House of Representatives for the Honorable Henry B. Gonzalez and in the U.S. Senate for the Honorable Lloyd Bentsen. He completed his tenure in Washington, D.C. as the Community Development Director for the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations and moved to Austin to work as the liaison between the OSFR office and the Texas State Legislature.

In 1986, he worked for Texas Governor Mark White as a member of the Office of Economic Development and co-founded the Governor’s Conference on Small Business, which is held annually. He also developed and promoted a statewide forum, the Historically Underutilized Business Roundtables, which brought various state agencies together for the purpose of outreach to the minority business communities throughout the state. He continued his work in economic/business development as the Acting Director of the Small Business Division at the Texas Department of Commerce, as the Procurement Director for the Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and as an Associate Director with a non-profit organization funded by AT&T, which was established to provide employee training to AT&T employees.

He has served on various boards and committees as the Southwest Trade Adjustment Assistance Center representative. He is serving on the Board of Directors of the American Business Council, Inc., the TAAC trade association. He also is serving on the board of the University Economic Development Association, a national, professional economic development association. He was also on the board of the Aztlan East, Inc., an organization to encourage the matriculation of Mexican American students to East Coast universities and colleges.

Robert received a BA in European Intellectual History from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in Urban Studies from Trinity University.

Carla Gonzalez is the SBDCGlobal.com Site Specialist at the International Trade Center. As the SBDCGlobal.com Site Specialist, Carla overseas the development, maintenance, usage and promotion of the online trade platform, which connects the small business clients of the U.S. and Mexican SBDC networks for bilateral trade opportunities and education. Carla joined the International Trade Center in 2008 and previously served as an International Market Research Specialist. In this position Carla conducted and provided market research for the small and medium-sized businesses of the 79-county South-West Texas Border Region.

Carla holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a minor in Business Administration as well as a Master of Arts in International Relations with a concentration in International Development, both from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. She was born and raised in San Antonio and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Cheryce Jackson joined the UTSA Institute for Economic Development in 2010, and in her position she assists with the marketing and communications efforts throughout the institute. Cheryce graduated from UTSA and received her B.A. in English with a concentration in Professional Writing.

Cliff is director of the South-West Texas Border International Trade Center. He leads the center's vision and strategy.

He previously served as a Senior International Trade Specialist where he provided consulting and seminar services for businesses in the Southwest Texas Border Region. He also has experience working with the U.S. Department of Commerce San Antonio Export Assistance Center and the Casa San Antonio in Mexico City where he promoted two-way trade opportunities between the small businesses of Mexico and South Texas.

Cliff is a Certified Global Business Professional.

David Baenziger joined the San Antonio Small Business Development Center in 2000.

As Counseling Coordinator, David provides guidance and training to the Business Advisors of the SASBDC.  He also presents workshops and training seminars both within the Institute for Economic Development and out in the community.  Topics include business planning, financial management, marketing and Value Based Leadership.  As a Senior Certified Business Advisor, he coaches business owners on sales and customer service strategies for their businesses.  He assists clients starting or expanding a business, as well as preparing business plans and financial projections for loan packages.

David has over 20 years experience as a small business owner in the grocery and convenience store industry.   

David earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Southwest Texas State University.

David Clark joined SATAI in April 2006 as its Director of Enterprise Services.David currently is SATAI’s Director of Investment Services. In this capacity David works directly with both entrepreneurs and potential investors in preparing ventures for possible investment activity – either through private sources or through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. David returned to his native San Antonio after a 15 year hiatus in Washington, DC and the Pacific Northwest. Prior to joining SATAI, David had a 25 year professional career in a number senior sales & marketing management positions with such companies as IBM/Tivoli, PeopleSoft, and TRW.

In all David’s positions his responsibilities included not only management of sales and marketing operations, but also strategic and tactical control of new product initiatives, product launches, and marketing logistics. David's broad based sales and marketing background in a variety of markets and products brings real-world experience to the process of launching new ventures based on innovative technologies. David holds a BA and JD from Southern Methodist University and is a graduate of Schertz-Cibolo High School here in the San Antonio area.

In May of 2008 Doug joined the International Trade Center, a center within the Institute for Economic Development, as in-house graphic designer. In the last decade Doug has been the in-house designer for three organizations and runs his own freelance graphic design business, CohenMiller Design, where where he works with non-profits, small businesses and arts organizations.

Before joining the IED team, Doug completed a degree in Culinary Arts at the acclaimed Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, Atlanta campus. Since then Doug has completed a degree in Graphic Design and holds a certificate in Digital Design from San Antonio College.

Dominique Halaby, DPA, is director of the Center for Community and Business Research at the Institute for Economic Development. The center's skilled economists and faculty members have helped community and business leaders to better understand the economy and how it works. From helping communities deal with the effects of BRAC 2005 to helping secure major corporate relocations to undertaking research that will affect state legislation, our projects have helped reshape the San Antonio and South Texas economy.

Dominique has a Doctorate of Public Administration from Nova Southeastern University, an MBA from UT-Pan American and a BA from the University of Texas.

Dawn Jimenez has been a Researcher with the SBDCNet since January 2009. Prior to joining the SBDCNet staff, she worked for the University of North Texas, the University of Texas at Arlington, NCH Corporation and the Disney Corporation.

Dawn holds a Masters degree in Library Science from the Univeristy of North Texas and a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education with an emphasis in eduation of the Gifted and Talented from the University of Texas at Arlington.

She and her computer science professor husband enjoy traveling within the United States and Europe.

Deirdre Pattillo, SPHR, is Project Manager/Human Resource Specialist for the South-West Texas Border SBDC Region's Contracting Resource Center at UTSA.  She has served the SBDC community for over 11 years with the past 4 years being focused on Human Resources and regulatory compliance.  Her goal is to be a key resource for the people side of small business.

Deirdre has worked with the Institute for Economic Development for the past eleven years in various capacities and programs ranging from administrative/research to program development.

Deborah Schueneman has been with the SBDC program since 1991 when she began as a business advisor. Prior to that time, she enjoyed partnership in Celebration Savvy, Inc, a food service business whose success is owed to an unwavering focus on a very targeted market. She earned a Bachelor’s degree from Texas A&I University in Kingsville, TX and an MBA from UTSA.

Deborah assumed the directorship of the SBDC National Information Clearinghouse in June, 2005.

Douglas Smith is the assistant director for the International Trade Center at UTSA's Institute for Economic Development. The center provides international trade consulting to small and medium-size companies in 79 Texas counties. Doug works with San Antonio, San Angelo, and Austin-area clients, including companies in the medical equipment, processed foods, steel, industrial equipment, and information technology industries.

He has been involved in international trade and marketing consulting for more than 25 years, focusing on import and export development, international marketing strategy, international market research, marketing channel management, industry and economic research, and trade finance. His international experience includes numerous projects involving Western Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa.

He holds a B.A. in history from DePauw University, an M.A. in Government and International Relations and an MBA in Finance and International Business from the University of Texas at Austin, and has done additional graduate work in economics at American University. He is a Certified Global Business Professional.

Erica Bishop joined the SATAI team in 2006 and serves as the Client Services Analyst. Erica is directly involved with initial client counseling and consulting services. She is responsible for coordinating resources and coaching clients toward optimum mix of assistance to help achieve their goals. Erica is responsible for maintaining financial records of SATAI, assisting in the preparation of financial reports, and overseeing the financial affairs of the firm.

Prior to joining SATAI, Erica was a marketing financial assistant for MetLife, Farmers, and New York Life Insurance. She has also been involved in various capacities of event planning. Erica has over 7 years experience in human resources, management, administration, and marketing.

Ernest Gerlach has over 20 years of combined experience in economic, community and business development, public policy research, human resource development, workforce planning and social science research. From 1990 to 2008 he managed the Center for Economic Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). The Center provided technical, capacity building and research support to local governments, communities, nonprofits and economic development corporations throughout South Texas and the Border Region. Today he coordinates the Rural Business Program (RBP) through the South-West Texas Border SBDC Network housed within UTSA's Institute for Economic Development. The RBP is designed to promote economic, business and community development in rural communities and areas throughout South and West Texas and the Border Region.

Mr. Gerlach also serves on numerous local and regional committees and boards. He holds a graduate degree in Urban Studies from Trinity University and a graduate degree in Public Administration from The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Erica Rodriguez joined the San Antonio Small Business Development Center in 2007.

As an Administrative Associate in the Training Department, she assists new and existing business owners by organizing and promoting training and development workshops for the SBDC. 

Erica graduated from The University of Texas at San Antonio where she earned her Bachelor of Business Administration Degree with a concentration in Marketing.

Erika Tarin joined the San Antonio Small Business Development Center in 2010.

As a Business Advisor, Erika helps entrepreneurs become CEOs. Her expertise is in the areas of business start-up, business plan development, marketing, brand promotion, and strategic planning.

Erika has over 10 years experience as a small business owner, including 5 years in the fashion industry, where she launched a brand targeting the young, urban, and Hispanic markets. Her specialty areas are marketing, brand development, retail, wholesale, and product launching.

She received her BBA in Marketing and Latin American Business from Texas State University and is a graduate of St. Mary’s University where she earned a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in International Business.

Grace Garcia started her career with the Small Business Development Center at Angelo State University in San Angelo Texas, where she worked as the training coordinator. Grace is now the Administrative Analyst/Training Coordinator for the Contracting Resource Center. Her main responsibility is to coordinate the logistics for government contracting seminars, workshops and conferences offered at the center. Previously, she was the Executive Director for the San Angelo Symphony and the Program Director for the American Lung Association in Dallas, Texas, where she gained experience in event planning, grant writing, fundraising, promotional marketing, and program development and implementation. She holds a BBA from Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth.