URI taps Huttenhower to head SBDC

AFTER COMPLETING  a nationwide search, the University of Rhode Island has tapped an industry veteran to become state director of the R.I. Small Business Development Center.
AFTER COMPLETING a nationwide search, the University of Rhode Island has tapped an industry veteran to become state director of the R.I. Small Business Development Center.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – After completing a nationwide search, the University of Rhode Island has tapped an industry veteran to become state director of the R.I. Small Business Development Center.
Ed Huttenhower, who most recently worked in similar positions at Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania, has been appointed to the position of director. Diane C. Fournaris, who previously worked as regional center director, has been promoted to assistant director, according to a press release.
“We are very excited that they will be taking up these new roles at the Small Business Development Center and look forward to their work enhancing the ability of the SBDC to serve small business needs and the people of Rhode Island,” said Gerald Sonnenfeld, URI vice president of research and economic development, in a statement.
Huttenhower beginning in 1997 worked as director of the Small Business Development Center at Saint Francis University and he became associate dean for community and economic development for the university’s School of Business in 2009, according to the release.
Before that, Huttenhower worked in small business development centers in Wheeling, W.Va., and Bangor, Maine, and has coordinated and participated in trade missions in Peru, South Africa, Australia and Russia.
Fournaris has worked with the center for several years as program manager, operations director and acting state director when it was hosted by Bryant University and Johnson & Wales University.
The U.S. Small Business Administration awarded URI the contract to host the center in December 2013.
“The university is very fortunate to have these two outstanding people lead the SBDC and we look forward to an exciting future for the organization,” Sonnenfeld said.

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