SBDC Overview

After more than a decade of experience as a serial entrepreneur on the Front Range, Roe moved to Grand Junction and went back to college, graduating Summa Cum Laude from Colorado Mesa University with a BBA in Marketing and a BS in Accounting. After an internship at the Business Incubator Center, she knew it was where she wanted to be, and she jumped when an opportunity for employment opened up. Now a Commercial Lender with the Loan Fund of Mesa County, Roe is also part of the Incubator Management team, and a Small Business Coach specializing in accounting and finance. Roe’s professional certifications include Team Leader/Economic Gardening, Colorado NxLevel business planning instructor, 2011 SBDC Counselor of the Year, and just for the heck of it, forklift operator. Roe is also a member of the Mesa County Executive Fair Board, and on the Advisory Board of the Grand Junction Housing Authority Family Self-Sufficiency program. “The most rewarding part of my job is sharing their challenges and the achievements while assisting start-up and expanding businesses overcome the hurdles of creating a successful and sustainable business.”

Terri is life-long resident of Grand Junction, a published novel-length fiction writer, award winning short story writer, contributor of non-fiction articles to a variety of newspaper, magazine and e-zines, familiar with traditional and e-book publishing processes, and writes business and marketing plans. She has applied for and received a provisional patent and understands the basic processes needed to pursue patenting and intellectual property. Terri has owned and operated a retail store, a landscape design and installation company, and a holiday decorating franchise. She understands cashflows, business and marketing plans, and the importance of working through the questions and getting to the answers as early in the start-up process as possible. Her motto: Carpe diem and see what happens next.

Lois grew up on a ranch in Arizona and loves life in Western Colorado. Her career includes accounting; her profession is in real estate. She likes working with investors and helping clients with identifying property, financing, management, & improving their portfolio. She serves on the Board at the Grand Junction Chamber, representing 1,000 businesses, and feels it’s a pleasure to work on behalf of start-up and expanding businesses. She serves as a chairperson of Government Affairs for Grand Junction Realtors. She enjoys meeting with entrepreneurs with new ideas and helping them determine where they are in the planning process of their start up business expansion. Her motto: Look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man and work like a horse.

Nina has a degree in Human Resources through Regis University and her 20 years of experience in the industry includes working with retail, manufacturing, medical device development, and residential and specialty commercial construction. She is currently a board volunteer for Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce, Mesa County Women’s Network, and recently voted to serve as Western Colorado Human Resources Association President for 2010/11. She is committed to supporting the development of new workplace entrants that are prepared to enter the workforce with the requisite knowledge, skills, abilities, and attributes in order to engage in endeavors that will be required in their respective occupations. Specialties: Compensation strategy design and implementation. Recruiting, screening, testing, and interviewing. Employee relations and performance coaching.

Matt has developed and participated in numerous go-to-market and product development enterprises across a wide variety of businesses ranging from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies, including founding and CEO of AVEX LLC, a medical device company. In this role, he raised over $6 million in grants, loans and equity financing. His experience includes President and CEO of Save More Resources, Inc. (“SMR”), a software and utility data management firm, a management consultant with McKinsey & Co in Silicon Valley and Chicago, and a consultant with Accenture, and a financial analyst with Leasetec, Inc. He has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a Bachelor of Science in Business and a Bachelor of Arts in History.

Gary has worked for a variety of companies, ranging from small companies to very large corporations.  His work experience includes general ledger accounting, cash flow projections, budgeting, product cost analysis, strategic and operations planning, and operations analysis and improvement. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Personnel Administration from Michigan State University and Master of Science in Accounting from Central Michigan University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Thane’s expertise includes HR (interviewing, hiring/firing, handbooks, and workers comp), collection issues, compliance with state and federal regulations, inspections, business plan review, business operations and management, and startups.

Bob is a graduate of the University of Denver with a  Degree in Business Administration with a minor Hotel & Restaurant Management. Upon graduation, Bob had a short stint as a United Airlines Management Trainee in the Omaha NE Flight Kitchen prior to service in Vietnam with the US Army.  Upon return to civilian life, Bob worked in food service management with the Denver Dry Goods Restaurant Denver, CO, and managed a residence hall food service for the University of Denver.  When Bob and his family moved to the Western Slope, he managed the retail store for Western Implement and later owned and operated an Ace Hardware.  After selling the hardware store, Bob became a financial advisor with AG Edwards and ultimately left AG Edwards to begin Investment Planning Solutions, an independent financial advisory company.  Bob sold Investment Planning Solutions to begin retirement.

Bob has experience with starting a business, creating a legal business structure, and implementing a succession plan for the sale of a business.  He also has used Excel and QuickBooks extensively.

At the age of 20, Jonathan Long started, operated, and grew his own business into a multi-million dollar company which he ran for 15 years.  His entrepreneurial mindset drove the growth and success in developing and managing each facet of his business which included:

• Business planning and strategy
• Marketing and graphic design
• Company processes and procedures
• Purchasing and vendor relationships
• Inventory management and systems
• Cash flow and expense management  
• Computer systems and automation