Pennsylvania SBDC to celebrate the sixth annual National Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Day with a speech from the State of Pennsylvania SBDC on Wednesday, March 16. Russ Starke, CEO of Think Company, PASBDC advisory board member and graduate of Kutztown University. The event’s lineup includes a panel discussion highlighting current small business challenges in the areas of cybersecurity, rising agricultural costs and supply chain logistics due to international events. PASBDC invites the public to join the direct on the PASBDC social networks from 10:45 a.m. to noon.

Starke has been a professional designer for over 25 years, working with corporations and nonprofits as an award-winning digital strategist, experience designer, information architect, instructional designer, business analyst, and project manager. A native of Long Island NY, Starke holds an MS from Bloomsburg University in Instructional Technology, a BS in Telecommunications from Kutztown University, and was an assistant graduate faculty member and course designer for the Digital Design and Instructional Technology programs at the University of Philadelphia from 1999 to 2010. Think Company is a Philadelphia-based digital services and experiences design and development company.

“We are grateful to thought leaders like Russ Starke who volunteer their time and knowledge to serve on the Pennsylvania SBDC Advisory Board and we look forward to his inspiring remarks on the current state of entrepreneurship in Pennsylvania as well that his remarks on numbers one of the challenges facing many of our small businesses coming out of the pandemic is the ability to retain and recruit top talent,” said the State Director of the PASBDC, Dr. Ernie Post.

SBDC Day will bring together a network of nearly 1,000 SBDC locations across the country that provide local businesses and entrepreneurs with the resources to succeed, including U.S. veterans, women-owned businesses, underserved communities, and young entrepreneurs. As the most comprehensive small business support network in the United States, SBDCs also promote technology development, exports, and rural development. SBDCs play a vital role in the economic development of their states and local communities. Access to the economic impact of PASBDC 2021 is available in the PASBDC 2021 Annual Report.

This special day will be celebrated through social media campaigns, public relations initiatives and other online events. To follow SBDC Day events on social media, follow the hashtag #SBDCDay, #SBDCDayPA on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIN. For a complete list of Pennsylvania SBDC events and programs, visit http://pasbdc.org/events.