Farmingdale SBDC Staff
Lucille Wesnofske, Director
Lucille Wesnofske has over 21
years experience in small business consulting. She has been the Director of
the New York State Small Business Development Center at Farmingdale State
since 2001 and has helped hundreds of
entrepreneurs realize the dream of becoming a business owner. She
specializes in and is most committed to assisting women-owned enterprises
and is known statewide for her business expertise in the child care
industry. Her work for the
Small Business
Development Center has resulted in millions of dollars of economic impact
for the Long Island economy.
In May 2007 Ms. Wesnofske was named one of the
"Top Fifty Most Influential Women in Economic Development on Long Island",
by Long Island Business News and in April 2007 she was honored by
Execuleaders as "Champion of Small Business". In May 2006 she received the
Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Public Service for the State University
of New York.
Ms. Wesnofske was
the first business advisor in New York State to achieve advanced
certification from the New York State Small Business Development Center.
She received the "Star Performer Award" from the National Association of
Small Business Development Centers. The Town of Brookhaven Office of Women
Services recognized her for her outstanding service to the community in
government. In addition, the software authored by Ms. Wesnofske, "Building
Blocks Child Care Business Planner," won LISTNET's LISA award.
Ms. Wesnofske earned her B.A. in Liberal Arts and Masters in Public Policy
from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and her A.A.S from
Farmingdale State University of New York.
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Lloyd Clarke, Business Advisor
Lloyd has 14 years of experience as an SBDC business
advisor specializing in business and marketing plans. He has conducted many
business seminars using motivational techniques that encourage
entrepreneurs.
His prior experience as plant manager, director of
distribution, and terminal manager for Continental Trailways brings a wealth
of practical knowledge to his counseling skills.
Lloyd has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration
from Baruch College and several post graduate Certificates in Communications
and Multimedia from N.Y.U.
John Narciso, Business Advisor
Specialties:
Veteran's Assistance
John is a certified business advisor and has 13
years of experience working with the Brooklyn and Farmingdale
SBDCs. Prior to working for the SBDC, John was a
consultant/account executive for a Long Island consulting firm
where his primary area of expertise was in management training.
John has graduate degrees in Government Management, Educational
Leadership, and Human Resources. John was named 2004 Veteran's
Advocate of the Year by the SBA, and 2004 NYS SBDC Star Performer
by the ASBDC. John was recently honored as NYS SBDC's Counselor
of the Year 2007, and as one of the top two NYS SBDC Business
Advisors in 2006.
With a 30-year naval career, John is the New
York State Small Business Development Center Regional Coordinator
for the Veterans Business Outreach Program, whose focus is to help
veterans, including disabled veterans, in their business
ventures.
Most
recently one of John's clients was named NYS SBDC Veteran's Small
Business of the Year (2007).
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Walter Reid, Business Advisor
Specialties:
Inventions, Import/Export
Walter has been a Business Advisor with SBDC
since 1998. He came to the Farmingdale State College Regional
SBDC in 2002. During that time he has been responsible for
assisting over 1330 clients, creating or retaining 758 jobs, and
achieving over $32.4 million in economic impact.
Walter was recently named the 2007 NYS SBDC's
Star Performer by the ASBDC and was the 2006 NYS SBDC Counselor of
the Year. In 2000 he was recognized by the Staten Island Advance
and the Staten Island Chamber for his role in a project that
resulted in amending a federal regulation. This accomplishment
was credited with impacting the continued operation of 32 small
businesses and saving 190 jobs along the northeast corridor. For
this effort he recieved the NAMTAC Award for the "Outstanding
Project of the Year" in 2000.
Before joining the SBDC, he worked for many
years in the toy industry as a retail store buyer. He has also
been a principal partner in three businesses: New York Business
Brokers Inc., R and M Toy Sales, and KWR Seafood. He received a
B.B.A. from Hofstra University in 1972.
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John Steinhoff, Business Advisor
After a long career in Banking, John joined the Small Business
Development Center at Farmingdale State. He currently advises at
the Farmingdale SBDC's Satellite Office at the C.W. Post Campus of
Long Island University. John holds a Bachelor of Science degree
in Business Administration from New York University and received
his bank credit training in the Global Credit Development Program
of a major New York Bank. John has been active for a long time in
a number of Long Island's business organizations, including Long
Island Association, Long Island Forum for Technology, Long Island
Action, and the Long Island Venture Group.
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Ritu S. Wackett, Business Advisor
Specialties: Day Care
Centers, Women and Minority Owned Businesses
Ritu joined the Farmingdale SBDC in March 2002
with experience in economic development and political community
relations. As well as being a certified Business Advisor, Ritu
serves as the Farmingdale SBDC's grant writer and Spanish speaking
advisor. Additionally, she authored both
Business Basics and
The Business Plan Guide,
publications extensively used by the SBDC. Prior to joining the
SBDC, Ritu was most recently employed by the Institute on Taxation
and Economic Policy’s Manhattan-based Good Jobs New York Project,
where she researched corporate retention subsidies and wrote
Development Subsidies in New York: A Research Manual for Activists.
Ritu
has a B.A. in political science and psychology from the State
University of New York at Albany, an M.A. in political science
from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.A.
in public policy from the State University of New York at Stony
Brook, where she also completed two years of doctoral coursework.
Ritu is a founding board member of the United States Women's
Chamber of Commerce, New York affiliate. She currently serves on
the boards of the Child Care Council of Nassau, Inc. and Suffolk
County Executive Steve Levy's Asian American Advisory Board, and
is an active member of the Suffolk County Women's Business
Enterprise Coalition.
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Dorothy Harris, Business Advisor
Specialties:
Government Procurement
Dorothy began her career at the
Farmingdale SBDC as
Office Manager in 2005,
and moved on to become the Assistant to the Director. Dorothy
left the SBDC in 2008 to work as a Business Assistant for Boys
Town New England. In 2009,
she returned to the SBDC
as a Business Advisor
specializing in Procurement. During
her tenure with the Farmingdale SBDC, she has conducted numerous
workshops on small business basics and the importance of a
business plan.
Dorothy has a B.A. in Psychology
and her M.B.A from Dowling College.
Tony Presti,
Coordinator of the Small Business
Sustainability Initiative
Tony has seven
years experience working with the Brooklyn, Westchester and
Farmingdale SBDC. In January of 2009 he became the project
coordinator for the SBDC Energy Sustainability Grant Program.
Prior to
working for the SBDC, Tony was an owner broker of a full service
real estate business in Queens, NY.
Tony has a Bachelors degree in European History
from the City College of New York and a Masters degree in the
History of Ideas from the State University of New York at Stony
Brook.
Office Staff
- Keri Franklin, Assistant to the Director
- Maria Darrow, Administrative Assistant
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