Ventura County SBDC Expands Roster of Advisors

CAMARILLO, Calif. - April 20, 2015 - PRLog -- Ventura County businesses now have more business assistance with the addition of four new local advisors to the Small Business Development Center of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. The new advisors include Keith Phillips, who specializes in international business and entrepreneurship; Georg Winkler, research; Anthony Curtis Elliott, finance; Elva de la Torre, government relations. The advisors will help area business owners with free one-on-one advising to strengthen their companies’ bottom lines.

“Our newest SBDC advisors expand our capacity to help area businesses with added research, insights and information. Pinpointing what’s right and what’s wrong in a business saves a great deal of time and effort, so it can be on the path to success more quickly,” said Ray Bowman, director of the SBDC of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.

Phillips is the founder and CEO of Qimono, a cloud-based virtual business advisor that helps other businesses incubate and grow. He was a brand manager for Unilever in South Africa, international marketing manager for Gillette in Africa and the Middle East, director of business for Apple in the United States and CEO of Telecom Equipment Supplies, New Zealand.

Winkler is coordinator of the Russell Fischer Business Collection at the City of Camarillo Public Library, home to many online and print resources for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Specializing in research, Winkler trains entrepreneurs in acquiring information for business development and marketing research.

Elliott is a forensic accountant and intellectual property “royalty audit” specialist who performs royalty and contract compliance and related consulting services to a broad base of companies. With more than 30 years’ experience in accounting and finance, he has held positions as accounting director and controller for both medium and large companies.

Torre is the owner and founder of de la Torre Consulting in Ventura. While employed with the county of Riverside, she gained governmental permitting experience in subdivisions and assisted with the development of Temecula and Murrieta. In 2008, she staffed a design review committee and worked as a zoning code enforcement officer for the city of Santa Barbara. She is a licensed broker under the California Bureau of Real Estate.

The SBDC is funded by the SBA and provides professional business assistance at no cost to businesses. Participating businesses are required to follow a well-defined scope of work and report their economic successes. These SBA milestones are defined as job creation, increase in sales, capital investment, jobs retained and business started.

EDC-VC is a private, nonprofit organization that serves as a business-to-government liaison to assist businesses in Ventura County by offering programs that enhance the economic vitality of the region. For more information about the Small Business Development Center, loan programs, manufacturing outreach and international trade program, or other services available to small businesses through EDC-VC, contact Bruce Stenslie at 805-384-1800 ext. 24 or bruce.stenslie@edc-vc.com. Or visit www.edc-vc.com.