Your Team

We help Lane County’s small businesses succeed!

Your Team

Our team of highly experienced professionals have expertise in a broad range of areas, including:

  • Government contracting and procurement
  • International business development and trade
  • Online marketing, social media and web development
  • Finance, access to capital and business operations
  • Marketing, branding and communications

Our advisers provide confidential one-on-one business advising at no cost.

We also provide training, from basic workshops to advanced courses from world-class providers, in a variety of business disciplines.

  • Paul Bullock
    Paul BullockAdviser
    Paul has more than 40 years of experience as a business strategist and financial consultant. He has owned, started, bought and sold businesses in a number of industries and has served on both public and private corporate boards, as well as charitable and educational boards. Paul has published six books on business and financial design and taught numerous educational credit classes.
  • Jason Petorak
    Jason PetorakInstructor
    Jason has 20 years' experience in cybersecurity and owns a photography business. He has worked many retail management jobs allowing for an advanced understanding of both the management and ownership levels of business.
  • Eric Lind
    Eric LindAdviser
    Eric is an advisor with Oregon’s SBDC network’s Capital Access Team (CAT). He specializes in helping small business owners with business planning, developing financial strategies, and accessing debt along with equity funding.
  • Brenda Stebbeds
    Brenda StebbedsAdviser
    Brenda has been a licensed massage therapist and small business owner for over 15 years. Well known for her work in Oregon’s wellness community; after earning an AS Degree in Business Management in 2011, she founded and operated a wellness retail shop in downtown Eugene for 10 years.
  • Dan Collins
    Dan CollinsDirector
    Dan Collins has both hands-on and academic training in leadership and entrepreneurship. He launched a successful small business in the Portland metro area, worked in a multinational organization with 400+ employees in over seventy countries, built a micro-business and community development non-profit in South America, and adjuncts with Bushnell University in the Masters of Leadership program.
  • Casie Brabham
    Casie BrabhamAdviser
    Casie graduated from the University of Oregon in 2012 with a degree in English. Immediately after graduation, she moved to Mexico where she taught business English for three years. Upon returning to the U.S., she continued to run her craft business and joined the Lane SBDC team.
  • Fernando Rivas
    Fernando RivasInstructor
    Fernando is originally from El Salvador where he graduated with his bachelor's in Economics in 2017. In 2023, he received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Bushnell University.
  • Denine McMurren
    Denine McMurrenProgram Coordinator
    Denine believes in making personal connections and building trust with her customers, clients, and team mates. Her 30+ year career at Lane Community College has given her time to build strong work relationships and experience in human resources and operations.
  • Gary Smith
    Gary SmithAdviser
    Gary has been leading the leading and teaching the Small Business Management Program for more than 10 years, which includes the three-year cohorts, the SBM Alumni Program and the Employee Management Program. He has 30 years of experience owning successful small businesses in game manufacturing, convention and trade shows, travel agency, print and copy, restaurant and corporate training and consulting.
  • Roger Wong
    Roger WongAdviser
    Roger has business experience with small and large companies, including corporate-level experience with national and international operations. He worked as head of operations for a New England pizza chain with 175 restaurants.

Connect with us today

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