Bill Atkins
William Atkins has worked in the technology and consulting industry for over 45 years. He retired as a senior partner of Deloitte Consulting in 2001. During his 35 years with Deloitte he served major clients in industries and governments. He started, acquired, merged, and sold technology subsidiaries of Deloitte Consulting. In the last five years he has consulted with multi-national firms and companies headquartered in the US, Europe and Asia/Pacific. Currently, he is a board member of Optaros, an open source consulting and systems integration company, and MTI Technology, which is an information infrastructure consulting, implementation, and services company.
Workshop Topic: Business Planning

Steve Bloom
Steve has had a challenging and rewarding career as an entrepreneur. He has started several business ventures in mortgage banking, real estate development and management, importing, sign manufacturing and business consulting. He has also invested in several start-ups that provided opportunities in technology transfer, music video and merchant banking. Steve has also been retained by owners to assist in “turning around” a factoring company and distressed real estate properties.
Workshop Topics: “Financing Your Business-Even After the Banks Say No,”  “Are you Prepared to Start a Business,” "The Keys to a Successful Venture,” and “Are You Ready?”

Jeff Cohen
Jeff is a tax and corporate attorney, and has been a member of SCORE since 1984. He participates several times a year in the seminars related to the legal side of business. He has consulted with SCORE clients since 1984. Visit www.irslawproblems.com.
Workshop Topic: Legal
 

Sherese Duncan
Small Business Expert, Sherese Duncan, is President and CEO of Efficio, Inc. a small business education and consulting firm. Duncan has been working with small businesses for over 12 years and possesses the strategic planning, marketing, and business savvy necessary to build a profitable business in today’s competitive business environment. Duncan is not an advisor that just gives advice leaving clients on their own to find their way. She provides a roadmap, and walks down the highway with her clients and works just as hard as they do during the process. Duncan is all about execution and results, and simply put…her business approach works. Visit www.efficio.biz.
Workshop Topic: Starting a Successful Business

Bob Irwin
Bob Irwin is an international trade consultant holds a Masters of Architecture from Syracuse University, and Bachelors degrees in Architecture and Psychology from the same institution. Prior to joining the SBDC, Mr. Erwin held various positions in the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade, & Tourism (GDITT), including Director of the International Trade Division. There he managed programs which took hundreds of Georgia companies to overseas trade events, and generated in excess of $200 million in documented export sales. Before that he served as the Executive Director of the American Building Products Export Council, in Washington DC, a trade association of more than 135 of the country’s leading building product exporters.
Workshop Topic: Import/Export

Ken Liang
Ken Liang is President and Principal Consultant of Wilson International, LLC. He connects the North American businesses with suppliers in China for both industrial and consumer products as well as manufacturing services. He also finds buyers in China for products and services of North American businesses. He has facilitated mergers and acquisitions between American companies and Chinese companies. Ken is a native Chinese, speaking both Mandarin and Cantonese, and has been a U.S. citizen living in the United States for past 20 years. He has maintained close contacts with a large network of suppliers in China over many years. Prior to starting his consulting practice, Ken was Director of Global Supply Chain Management and Quality Assurance with Hitachi. He holds an MBA from Auburn University and an MSME from Louisiana Tech University, as well as an International Business Certificate from Georgia State University. In addition, Ken is a counselor with SCORE. He provides workshops and seminars about strategic global sourcing and international trade to business executives and entrepreneurs. Ken is currently in the process of writing a new book, “How to Compete in the Global Economy.”
Workshop Topic: International Business

Mary Livingston
Mary Livingston brings 20 years combined of human resources experience through her firm, M. Livingston Group.  The goal of M. Livingston Group is to work closely with business owners, client officers, department heads, managers, and human resources staff in addressing important organizational needs such as management and organization development, program and process design, facilitation of training seminars (including eLearning workshops), diagnostic processes, support in human resource systems, executive coaching, diverse workforce management, and human resource administration. 
Workshop Topic: Human Resources

Ed Schneider
Ed has over 35 years experience in large and small businesses. He has owned businesses doing retail consulting and expert witnessing for attorneys. His large business experience has been in marketing, supply chain management, financial management, and business (strategic) planning. Before retiring, Ed had worked for six years with the Small Business Development Center network counseling clients. He has the pleasure of having counseled clients that were awarded the Small Business of the Year in Delaware three times. Ed has been a SCORE counselor for over 13 years, counseling clients and presenting workshops. He has the added pleasure of counseling close to 1000 clients over his time with the SBDC and SCORE.
Workshop Topic: Marketing and Sales

Don Schuster
Don's insurance industry career spanned over 25 years during which time he held positions in underwriting, brokerage, consulting and marketing.  He became a prominent international broker after joining Johnson & Higgins.  There he created, negotiated and monitored liability and property plans for American Fortune 100 firms. Don made two additional stops.  He became a consultant to a small family owned agency as it transitioned into the electronic age and grew via acquisition.  He returned to the International arena with Fireman’s Fund where he was a manager for its northwest region, overseeing underwriting, training, and marketing.
Workshop Topic: Community Express Loans

Patrick Travisano
A professional with 35 years of management experiences with a Fortune top 5, global corporation, with special skills in Industrial and Utility Markets. Patrick is a graduate of the corporation’s Advanced Management Institute.
Workshop Topic: Business Plans
 

Heather Wright
Heather graduated from the University of Georgia in 1996, and received her law degree from Mercer University in 1999. She is a former law clerk to Judge James G. Bodiford of the Superior Court of Cobb County, Georgia. She has also been an instructor at Kennesaw State University, and acted as a Faculty Coach for the Mercer Moot Court Board. After practicing with two of Atlanta’s larger law firms, Heather founded The Wright Firm, providing large firm caliber representation with a small firm outlook. Specializing in all aspects of civil litigation, the firm assists select clients with complex business, personal, and insurance matters.
Workshop Topic: Legal

Robert Yancy
Dr. Robert Yancy recently retired from a 40-year career as an educator and administrator at the university level. He is the founding dean of the School of Business at Southern Polytechnic State University. He also has significant experience as an entrepreneur and business operator serving for 10 years as President and CEO of ZEBRA Corp., a B-2-B manufacturer of industrial paints and coatings, and as a partner in Park Space, an airport shuttle parking facility in Atlanta. Dr. Yancy has done extensive research on small business management, publishing a series of articles for the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, called “Managing Success,” and a book titled FEDERAL GOVERNMENT POLICY AND BLACK BUSINESS ENTERPRISE.
Workshop Topic: Franchising

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