CCSBDC Executive Director

Beverly Hamile

Prior to becoming Director of the Contra Costa Small Business Development Center, Beverly provided business consulting and training for small business owners or prospective owners, since 1988. Her previous business experience was in the service and retailing industries, for over 15 years. Her undergraduate degree is from Oregon State University and her master degree, MBA, is from Cal State Hayward, where she specialized in New Venture Small Business Management.

Beverly has authored a series of business education publications, called   BizMaps and developed an entrepreneurial training program, New Venture Training, for start-up business owners.  She is a previous Board Member and an Executive Committee member of the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce, and is a graduate of the “Leadership Concord” program.

As the co-chair of the Contra Costa Council’s Small Business Task Force, she and other members initiated the annual county-wide Small Business Awards Luncheon which recognizes the contributions of small businesses in Contra Costa County and supports continued entrepreneurship.  It is presented each year during SBA's National Small Business Week.

Our Consulting Staff

Note: All of our staff consultants maintain private consulting practices.

Gerald Sullivan
Senior Consultant - Business Analysis & Management

Gerald has been a management consultant for over 30 years, having served more than 300 small to mid-size companies. In addition to publishing a two-volume Consultant's Handbook in 1978, Gerald has appeared on multiple television and radio programs as a guest speaker, co-host and talk show host. He has owned a restaurant and hotel resort, an art gallery, a contracting firm and a management consulting practice in California and Hawaii. Gerald is a specialist in business analysis, strategic planning, turn-arounds, and executive decision-making. Gerald was senior VP of a $7 million private investigation and security firm, division manager for a $12 million consumer products corporation, and national marketing director for an after-market auto products company.

Gerald has been a senior management consultant for the Contra Costa SBDC for over six years. As a consultant, he has helped save many failing businesses and helped small business owners increase profits by over $5 million collectively. In addition to his BA degree and two years of law school training. Gerald also holds an active real estate license.

Jeff Hall
New Venture Training Instructor
Consultant - Import/Export

For fifteen years Jeff was an international sales manager for S&W Fine Foods in San Ramon, CA. In 1996 he graduated from the New Venture Training Program and started his own international trading company, which he manages today.

In addition to being an instructor at the SBDC, Jeff has taught courses on leadership and entrepreneurship at JFK University and has also taught at the elementary level. He holds a teaching credential and an MA in Education from Chapman University.

George Holmes
New Venture Training Instructor

George took the New Venture Training course in June 1998. He now runs his Fine Art Restoration business as a private practice. The business has been profitable from the beginning.

His business plan is based on sound research. Most people think there is no need for this kind of work. George succeeds because his market research shows his small target market really holds a thirty-year backlog of demand. His business plan is based on strategies he learned at the SBDC.

George has a B. Sc. in Marketing and an MBA. He has been a fine arts painter for over twenty years.

Randy Shores
Senior Management Consultant - Marketing

Randall Shores has over 20 years experience as a Business Consultant, specializing in small business and marketing. He was an instructor in Small Business at Solano Community College for 13 years, and is the author of the book, “Starting and Managing a Small Business.” In 1973, Mr. Shores founded Marketing Research Consultants, which quickly became the largest full-service market research firm in Sacramento. In 1984 he sold the firm to one of his clients.

In addition, Mr. Shores has owned other successful businesses, including a real estate investment and development firm, a marketing company, and a wholesale distribution company. In addition to his business career, Mr. Shores has served at the highest levels of California local and state government. He has two degrees in management and has attended law school.

Robert Lane
Consultant - Government Procurement

Robert Lane is a former Deputy for Small Business with the Defense Logistics Agency where he monitored large prime contractors to ensure that they did business with small, minority, and women owned businesses. Robert retired from the Department of Defense after 33 years of federal service, and accepted a position as a Procurement Specialist with the Bay Area Procurement Assistance Center in Oakland, CA.

Robert’s experience also includes being a Procurement Specialist with the Commission on Economic Development for the State of Nevada and an Outreach and Marketing Director for Procurement Resource Center helping small businesses obtain certification as a “Small Disadvantaged Business” under the new regulations by the Small Business Administration. In addition, Robert teaches Small Business Management at various community colleges in the Bay Area.

Cindy Turner
Consultant - Market Research
New Venture Training Instructor

Over the past 17 years, Cindy Turner has been active in all facets of small business management, including business and strategic planning with an emphasis on market research and business planning. As a teacher, coach and trainer she has helped her clients increase their sales by 20 to 75 percent. With an MBA in New Ventures Small Business Management and Marketing, Cindy enjoys working with start-ups as well as existing business owners.

Ms. Turner has been recognized by the SBA for her excellence in business plan development. She serves as a trainer and consultant to the Contra Costa Small Business Development Center and is a long-standing professor at Vista Community College in Berkeley California and past adjunct faculty of UC Berkeley.

Mark Westwind
Consultant - Technology

Mark Westwind has over thirty years of experience in organizational development and expertise in technology, business incubation, business modeling, and U.S./China business development. Mark served the founding Director of the Contra Costa Software Business Incubator. He later served as the Associate Director of John F. Kennedy University's Center for Entrepreneurship. As a consultant, Mark has provided professional services to numerous Bay Area high-tech start-ups.

Mark has an MPA in Policy Development from CSU Hayward, a Certificate in Entrepreneurship from JFK University and a community college instructor's credential.