Dianne Kepley joined the SBTDC’s Hickory office as a Business Resiliency Counselor in the summer of 2020. Dianne is an experienced business development professional with a background in retail, technology, media and healthcare software, and non-profits. She has experience in impact and innovation initiatives, customer relationship management, vendor management, and leadership. Dianne owned a data storage company, DataBank Co., for 14 years, selling the company in 2004.
Business Resiliency Counselors
Our team of Business Resiliency Counselors are available to work with business owners recovering from the impacts of COVID-19 on cash flow and financing, exploring new marketing opportunities, stabilizing operations, safely welcoming back customers, digital marketing, and more. Scroll down to view bios as well as the statewide Business Resiliency Counselor map.
| Hickory |
Dianne Kepley Dianne Kepley×Dianne Kepley joined the SBTDC’s Hickory office as a Business Resiliency Counselor in the summer of 2020. Dianne is an experienced business development professional with a background in retail, technology, media and healthcare software, and non-profits. She has experience in impact and innovation initiatives, customer relationship management, vendor management, and leadership. Dianne owned a data storage company, DataBank Co., for 14 years, selling the company in 2004.
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| Raleigh |
Jacqueline Roth Jacqueline Roth× Jacqueline Roth joined the SBTDC’s Raleigh office as a Business Resiliency Counselor in the summer of 2020. Jacqueline has experience in exit strategy planning, business sale, and acquisition transactions as a Certified Mergers & Acquisitions Advisor (CM&AA) and Certified Business Intermediary (CBI). She has owned and operated multiple small businesses and has served on the Board of Directors of several industry associations.
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Gene Holland Gene Holland× Gene Holland joined the SBTDC’s Raleigh office as a Business Resiliency Counselor in the fall of 2020. Gene brings experience in financial analysis and businesses credit underwriting after spending nearly five years as a Commercial Banker and Business Credit Instructor at BB&T (now Truist). He co-founded CORK & TEE, a boutique travel company specializing in customized experiences, and helped grow it into a profitable, $4 million business.
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Kevin M. Wright Kevin M. Wright× Kevin M. Wright serves as a Busines Resiliency Counselor at the SBTDC’s office in Raleigh. Kevin has over 30 years of industry experience at GE and IBM and over 10 years of academic experience as an Adjunct Professor at Duke and NC State. He has a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from Ohio University, a Master’s in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from Lehigh University, and an MBA from Duke University.
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| Chapel Hill |
Patricia Breen Patricia Breen× Patricia Breen serves as a Business Resiliency Counselor at the SBTDC’s office in Chapel Hill. Patricia has 20 years of experience as a CEO, marketing and communication specialist, business consultant, and executive development and leadership coach. She founded Rapidnet, a company that worked to build and manage the infrastructure to help bring the Internet to South Dakota, in 1994, as well as her own consulting business in 2001.
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| Greenville |
Mark Everett Mark Everett× Mark Everett serves as a Business Resiliency Counselor at the SBTDC’s office in Greenville. Mark spent 10 years as a commercial lender and 21 years in commercial real estate, brokerage, leasing, and development prior to joining the SBTDC. A native of Washington, N.C., Mark currently serves as the chairman of the Washington Housing Authority board. He has a Bachelor’s in Accounting from NC State University.
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Rob Bower Rob Bower× Rob Bower serves as a Business Resiliency Counselor at the SBTDC’s office in Greenville. Robert has over 20 years of experience in product marketing in the defense, consumer products, and automotive manufacturing industries. He spent the last five years as a Business Counselor at the Maryland SBDC, where he helped clients with launching their business, financing, and sustainability. Additionally, Robert has owned and operated his own small technology company.
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| Charlotte |
Alisa Atkinson McDonald Alisa Atkinson McDonald× Alisa Atkinson McDonald serves as a Business Resiliency Counselor at the SBTDC’s office in Charlotte. Alisa has experience as an executive leader at several Fortune 100 companies, holding leadership roles in integrated marketing solutions, IT, information security and cybersecurity, business continuity, supply chain, project development, change management, and mergers & acquisitions. She has a Bachelor’s in Mathematics and Computer Science from UNC Chapel Hill and an M.B.A. from UNC Charlotte.
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Jason Boudrie Jason Boudrie× Jason Boudrie serves as a Business Resiliency Counselor at the SBTDC’s office in Charlotte. Jason has over 25 years of experience in the fitness, wellness, and sports industries. He has built dozens of fitness and sports facilities and a nationally recognized corporate wellness consulting company. Jason has a background in finance and economics, an NYU Certification in Global Sports Management, and a passion for athletics and youth development.
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| Triad |
Shadrach Smith Shadrach Smith× Shadrach Smith joined the SBTDC’s Greensboro office as a Business Resiliency Counselor this winter. Shad has more than 10 years of experience in the banking industry with tenures at Regions Bank and First Horizon Bank. He founded ARDA Trade and Export, LLC, an export management company with a focus on the West African regional market, in 2015. Shad has a wide range of experience in global enterprise, business development and modeling, process improvement, and financial system conversion.
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Jill Atherton |
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| Elizabeth City |
Michael Thompson Michael Thompson× Michael Thompson serves as a Business Resiliency Counselor at the SBTDC’s office in Elizabeth City. Michael is a retired pilot who accrued more than 20 years of active service in the U.S. Navy. During his career with the U.S. Navy, he was also a Division Career Counselor, providing individual counseling to active-duty soldiers and their families. Michael served as the GEAR-UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) Coordinator for Weldon City Schools for four years. He also operated a small home repair company.
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| Asheville |
Matt Godfrey Matt Godfrey× Matt Godfrey serves as a Business Resiliency Counselor at the SBTDC’s office in Asheville. Matthew has been a leader, consultant, business course facilitator, and chief encourager for Western North Carolina organizations and entrepreneurs for more than 20 years. He serves as the board chair for the Outdoor Gear Builders of WNC and is a member of the Growing Outdoors Partnership Advisory Committee.
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| Wilmington |
Cheryl Young Cheryl Young× Cheryl Young serves as a Business Resiliency Counselor at the SBTDC’s office in Wilmington. Cheryl spent 13 years as a business consultant with the Pennsylvania SBDC at Shippensburg University where she assisted small businesses with business plans, financial analysis, marketing plans, and start-up guidance. During her time in Pennsylvania, Cheryl and her husband owned and operated three restaurants. She has a Bachelor’s in Business/Marketing from Penn State University.
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Cynthia DeVita-Cochrane Cynthia Devita-Cochrane× Dr. Cynthia DeVita-Cochrane joined the SBTDC’s Wilmington office as a Business Resiliency Counselor in the fall of 2020. Cynthia is a mediator, business coach, entrepreneur, and organizational psychologist with over 20 years of organizational development behavior consulting experience. After several years as the founding director of a start-up mediation center, she began a consulting and training firm to help not-for-profit start-ups in 1997.
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| Pembroke |
Joseph James Joseph James× Joseph James joined the SBTDC’s Pembroke office as a Business Resiliency Counselor in the fall of 2020. Joseph has more than 10 years of experience helping small and large organizations reach their potential by applying industrial organizational psychology and business strategies to help strengthen performance. He founded his own consulting business, Higher Up Consulting, LLC, in 2018. Joseph has a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
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| Fayetteville |
James Diaz James Diaz× James Diaz joined the SBTDC’s Fayetteville office as a Business Resiliency Counselor this spring. James has 10 years of military experience, serving as a Fire Control Sargent in the U.S. Army in Fort Hood, Texas. He is a recent graduate of Fayetteville State University with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and Management. James was a Teaching Assistant at FSU in 2019 and 2020, where he delivered peer-to-peer guidance to students in several legal and business courses.
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