Your Team

Meet your SBDC Team for the Mid-Willamette Valley!

Your Team

Each of our advisers and instructors are either current or former business owners. This is by design so that we can model the task and challenge of entrepreneurship and relate to those we serve.

  • Sarah Whitney
    Sarah WhitneyAdviser
    Sarah offers friendly business advice centered around online sales process improvement. She is known for helping businesses in and around Salem Oregon with their online presence.
  • Blanca E. Torres de Hawkins
    Blanca E. Torres de HawkinsAdviser
    Blanca has over 20 years of experience working for various state government agencies. She also serves as adjunct faculty with Chemeketa.
  • Greg Allen
    Greg AllenAdviser
    He has worked with hundreds of small business owners on business planning and growth. His professional background includes management consulting, organizational leadership, strategic planning, operations analysis, and team motivation.
  • Jim Vu
    Jim VuAdviser
    Jim received his Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington Foster School of Business with a concentration in Finance and Marketing. He worked for 8 years at a large pharmaceutical company in sales and 10 years as a commercial loan officer at local community banks.
  • Silvia Lopez
    Silvia LopezAdviser
    Silvia's work experience has been centered around helping people. She started by assisting the elderly with their daily lives at Providence Benedictine Nursing Center. Later, she became a substitute for the Salem-Keizer School District.
  • Tatyana Sukhodolov
    Tatyana SukhodolovProgram Coordinator
    Tatyana provides support to the small business community through the coordination of training and advising. She assists with day-to-day operations of the Center, provides administrative support to SBDC staff, and coordinates development, scheduling and continued improvement of SBDC training events.
  • DeAnna Tapia
    DeAnna TapiaAdviser
    DeAnna started her own Interpreting business after working as a volunteer assisting limited English speaking Community members maneuver their way through different life challenges. Although, she had to business administrative experience, she knew how to network and find answers.
  • Brandon Steinman
    Brandon SteinmanAdviser
    Brandon has a Masters in Organizational Behavior and Evaluation from Claremont Graduate University and is a Senior Certified Professional from the Society for Human Resources Management.
  • Don Lundberg
    Don LundbergAdviser
    Don’s primary background is in accounting and finance. He had a CPA tax and bookkeeping practice for several years. As a community college instructor, he taught classes in economics, accounting, financial reporting, human resources, and banking. He currently teaches QuickBooks, financial, and systems classes to entrepreneurs. Don has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master’s degree in Business Administration. While a small-town banker, he served on many nonprofit and foundation boards.
  • Angie Oven
    Angie OvenAdviser
    Angie has owned and operated a retail store in Downtown Salem for 12 years. Her background includes an Air Force career as well as a career in banking, specifically focused in business banking prior to buying her store.
  • Jim Parks
    Jim ParksAdviser
    Jim's focus is on getting small businesses up and running. Starting with business plans and moving through marketing and QuickBooks, Jim will get you off on the right foot. Jim has many years of personal experience as an entrepreneur. He owns several companies which he has built from scratch and is always willing to share his experience with others. If you are searching for an adviser who can address issues from top to bottom, he is the adviser to contact.

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You’ve got the idea and the business, let us help you take it to the next level.