Interview with Ralph Buchanan and Carl Hairston
As a Senior Economic Development Specialist with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Ralph Buchanan supports the Washington Metropolitan Area District Office’s economic development and partnership efforts. In this capacity he leads ongoing community engagements to advance the services and programs available within the SBA through sustained and ongoing interactions with small businesses and resource partners. Mr. Buchanan provides strategic counseling, access to capital support, and contracting expertise for arguably the nation’s most influential district office.
Immediately prior to his SBA career, Mr. Buchanan has over fifteen years of private sector experience working directly with the major socio economic categories of small businesses found within government contracting, to include WOSB, SDVOSB, SDB, Hawaiian Native, as well as mid-tier firms thriving with the federal sector. During these engagements, he provided proposal management support, strategic capture management, business development and operations, through a complete understanding of the federal acquisition lifecycle, and a well thought out methodology for go to market strategies, and critical thinking from lessons learned over the course of his diverse career.
Prior to these efforts, Mr. Buchanan has a nearly twenty year career with the Unisys Corporation where he provided proposal management expertise, business development, and traditional marketing support in support of large scaled commercial and public sector opportunities.
A native of Newark, New Jersey, Mr. Buchanan holds and Master of Science in Administration from Central Michigan University and a Bachelors of Science in Engineering from Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey).
Questions I Asked Ralph
- What is your role with the Small Business Administration?
- How does the SBA support small businesses?
- What is your focus for small businesses in our community?
- Why is it important to get different perspectives on your business from your support team?
- What does this initiative look like within our community? Is it open to anyone?
- What is your roll Carl with the upcoming workshops?
What You’re Going to Learn
- What emerging leaders is all about
- What initiatives the SBA is working on to support small businesses
- What a business success advisory team is (and what this initiative is)
- What the initial kickoff workshop is going to be about (hint: we’re starting with money and banking)
- What 3 of the critical roles are of the business success advisory team
The program kicks off on January 19th at the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce. The meeting time is from 10:30am – 12:00pm and will meet the third Thursday of every month.
Be sure to call first: 301-731-5000 ext. 303 to confirm that day’s meeting.
The best way to stay plugged into the workshop is to show up to the individual workshops or you can email Ralph Directly at:
ralph.buchanan@sba.gov
You can email Carl Hairston directly at:
chairston@citifirst.com
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