Joseph Guzman, executive director of the Economic Policy Institute at Northern Arizona University, has been appointed to a three-year term on the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) advisory board.
The SBDC provides a direct delivery channel for small business owners and entrepreneurs to access resources and assistance from the Small Business Administration (SBA). It has a network of centers throughout the nation and offers a focus on one-on-one interactions with individual business owners.
“This is an exciting opportunity for Dr. Guzman and a testament to his academic and professional credentials,” said NAU President Rita Cheng. “He is an asset to NAU and the business community in Arizona, and I know his expertise will be valuable to the SBDC advisory board as well.”
As one of nine board members, Guzman will advise, counsel and confer with the administrators of the SBA in carrying out the administration’s programs. The board’s tasks include evaluating the effectiveness of the SBDC, introducing proposals to strengthen SBDC private sector involvement and providing recommendations for improved program effectiveness.
“Having spent my career in engineering, management and the policy/research/academia side, I can offer an integrative view of the unique challenges small businesses will face at this critical juncture,” Guzman said. “Since technology is crucial to our future economic growth, I have often found it advantageous to bring an applied knowledge of engineering to the study of business issues.”
Guzman, who has six degrees, including an MBA from the University of Arizona and three graduate degrees from Stanford, has been director of the Economic Policy Institute in NAU’s W. A. Franke College of Business since 2019. He also is a professor of economics and has experience at the senior executive levels of the federal government, which offers a useful knowledge of practices and procedures, particularly in technology, program development, contracting and acquisition.