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Melissa Rosario, who has nearly a decade of experience as a consultant and program developer for New Jersey’s business community, has been named regional director of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at William Paterson University in Wayne. The Center, based in Paterson, serves business owners and entrepreneurs throughout Passaic County.
Housed within the University’s Cotsakos College of Business, William Paterson’s SBDC is a private organization of professional management consultants partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the New Jersey Economic Growth and Tourism Commission, and community-based organizations such as the Paterson Urban Enterprise Zone.
Rosario will work under the direction of Kelly Brozyna, state director of the New Jersey Small Business Development Center (NJSBDC), and Anthony Bowrin, dean of the Cotsakos College of Business, to serve the strategic planning, internal fiscal administration, reporting, and overall management of the William Paterson SBDC.
Her responsibilities include overall small business development in Passaic County, including client services development, database management, monitoring, and reporting; overseeing client services program delivery in the form of one-on-one counseling, training, marketing, and outreach; fundraising to meet the Center’s funding goals; organizing and supervising Center staff and activities; developing strong external stakeholder relationships; and working to advance the comprehensive vision, mission, and strategic objectives of the University and the Cotsakos College of Business.
“Melissa has experience as a senior business consultant with the NJSBDC network, an extensive professional network with New Jersey organizations that serve small businesses, and an excellent track record of successful fund raising,” says Anthony Bowrin, dean of the Costakos College of Business. “She also has a keen understanding of what small businesses need to thrive in these challenging times, and an unwavering commitment to supporting small businesses and economic development in New Jersey. I am confident that the SDBC-Paterson is poised for continued success under her leadership.”
“We are thrilled to have Melissa Rosario become part of our leadership team. She comes with a wealth of knowledge in finance and community engagement that will support Passaic County and the entire state of New Jersey,” says Kelly Brozyna, NJSBDC state director. “We will see many changes for the entrepreneurs in Passaic County, including services offered in Spanish. We are fortunate to have Melissa on our team.”
Rosario comes to the University from the New Jersey Small Business Development Center at New Jersey City University, where she served as senior business consultant and played a pivotal role in supporting and guiding a portfolio of approximately 190 businesses. Prior, Rosario served for nine years at the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce, most recently as senior director of membership and finance. During her tenure there, she managed several key affinity groups, including the Women of Commerce, HOLA (Hispanic Organizations Leaders of America), and the Ambassador and YPLHC Young Professionals Leaders of Hudson County.
She also consulted with businesses in areas such as entrepreneurship, finance and event planning, sales, raising capital, building relationships and marketing, engaging with more than 1,000 businesses. She successfully launched an eight-month mentoring program exclusively for women, which includes peer-to-peer mentoring and educational workshops.
Prior to joining the Hudson County Chamber of Commerce, Rosario held several roles in the government of the Dominican Republic, providing economic and financial metrics for the distribution of electricity at the Dominican Corporation of Electricity (CDEEE) as an economist. Her efforts contributed to the development and implementation of programs aimed at improving the energy distribution system, thus reducing the fiscal deficit with energy supplier companies and supporting capital negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. Earlier, she served as an analyst during the launch of “Dominican Republic in Numbers” in 2008, a comprehensive compilation of statistical data from the country.
A graduate of Technology Institute of Santo Domingo (INTEC) in the Dominican Republic. with a bachelor’s degree in economics, Rosario holds an MBA in finance from New Jersey City University, a certificate in nonprofit organization management from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management, and a statistical analyst certificate from the National Office of Statistics (ONE) in the Dominican Republic.
