Chris Bowersock has been named director of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Eastern Kentucky University.
Bowersock is no stranger to helping small businesses in the region. He has served the past two years as an assistant vice president for Commercial Bank in his hometown of West Liberty, where he managed a commercial loan portfolio of more than $10 million and directed a business incubator, among other duties. From 2011 to 2014, Bowersock was a senior coordinator for Gateway Community Action Agency, also in West Liberty, coordinating the Regional Technology and Innovation Center business hub, among other responsibilities. He also previously served as an associate management consultant for the SBDC at Morehead State University, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
“Chris’s passion for and commitment to entrepreneurs is contagious, and his track record of achievement will lead our SBDC in the service region,” said Dr. Tom Martin, executive director of the Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Technology (CEDET) at EKU. “He and Assistant Director Jason Rainey will help to advance the interests of small business owners and EKU’s entrepreneurial activities.”
The EKU SBDC, an outreach service of EKU’s College of Business and Technology, is housed within CEDET with offices on the Richmond campus. It provides free counseling, training and information programs and services to existing and potential small business owners in Adair, Casey, Clinton, Estill, Garrard, Jackson, Laurel, Lincoln, Madison, McCreary, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Russell, Wayne and Whitley counties and enjoys a close working relationship with EKU School of Business academic programs.
“I’m excited to be able to work with individuals who are passionate about an idea,” Bowersock said. “There’s an intrinsic reward working with someone to shape an idea from the beginning and see that business grow over a period of time.”
Small Business Development Centers “have been around since the ’70s, providing services that have been very beneficial to existing and start-up businesses,” Bowersock noted. “The chance of a business existing beyond three years is significantly higher for those who work with an SBDC.”
Often, that means connecting clients with myriad other resources.
Bowersock is available to meet with clients in his EKU office or on site anywhere throughout the SBDC service region.
To learn more about services offered by the EKU SBDC, visit sbdc.eku.edu or www.facebook.com/ekusbdc, or call 859-622-1384.