76.7 F
Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsLocal governmentVI SBDC State Director Decides to Leave

VI SBDC State Director Decides to Leave

Gov. Bryant (L) and Ted J. Gutierrez, VI SBDC state director in March 2022. (Submitted photo)

VI SBDC State Director Ted J. Gutierrez has accepted a new position with the Missouri SBDC/PTAC network. Oct. 14 will be Gutierrez’s last day as the state director for the Virgin Islands Small Business Development Center (VI SBDC). He stated that the move is a result of the hardship his family endured during the recent pandemic:

“When I accepted the VI SBDC state director position in 2019, my plan was to stay in the Virgin Islands indefinitely, but the pandemic changed everything for me. I realized the importance of family after being apart from my wife and family over the last three years.

“In my short time as the state director, the VI SBDC team has achieved amazing results navigating the challenges from the hurricanes through the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020, we’ve assisted over 1,300 clients, supported over 3,000 jobs, provided training for more than 5,000 participants, and helped clients with over $27 million in capitalization, including the federal relief funding programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans.

“We established two new satellite locations, one in St. Thomas and another on St. John, and we procured two new mobile SBDC units to better engage our communities. Finally, the VI SBDC administered the historic Small Business Innovation Grant 2022 with the Office of the Honorable Governor Albert Bryan Jr. which assisted with almost $4 million in grant money awarded to over 330 businesses.

“I am grateful for my time here and am blessed to have met so many wonderful people and enjoyed amazing experiences that I will never forget,” Gutierrez

The VI SBDC team will continue to fulfill its mission as the Virgin Islands most trusted resource for entrepreneurs and small businesses in the territory. For more information, visit the website at

www.visbdc.org or follow it on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; just search VISBDC.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Keeping our community informed is our top priority.
If you have a news tip to share, please call or text us at 340-228-8784.

Support local + independent journalism in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as accessible as we can. Our independent journalism costs time, money and hard work to keep you informed, but we do it because we believe that it matters. We know that informed communities are empowered ones. If you appreciate our reporting and want to help make our future more secure, please consider donating.