GRAND RAPIDS – Anna Bier joined the MI-SBTDC as a technology business consultant in April 2002. Bier brings extensive experience in engineering research and development, as well as in various aspects of creating and running many divisions of a high-tech business enterprise.

Prior to joining the MI-SBTDC, she spent seven years as the Chief Financial Officer/Scientist/Partner of a small high-tech business in Virginia. As such she has researched and written multiple proposals for several U.S. Government agencies and negotiated and managed over 30 contracts/grants with the DoE, FAA, NSF, NIH, NRC, DoD, and SBA. These included Phase I, II, and III Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) commercialization projects, and two of these projects are now in full scale production, with another four in the final stages of Phase III.

Additionally, she has written, presented, and had published several papers at various conferences relating to her engineering and scientific research and served as a commercialization advisor for National Science Foundation proposal programs. Bier received a Master?s Degree in Business Administration from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2002. She also received a Master?s of Science in Physics from Texas A&M University in 1995 and a Bachelor?s of Science in Physics (with minors in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Russian History) from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1993.

Rhoades has held 14 marketing positions at eight different companies, including General Motors, American Collegiate Marketing, and CoreComm, among others. Her past titles include Market Researcher, Direct Mail Program Director, Creative Director, Marketing Services Director, Director of Customer Acquisition, Director of Customer Retention, and Vice President of Marketing. Each position resulted in record-setting results, profitable new product launches, and successful new strategic initiatives. Rhoades holds a bachelor?s degree in marketing, advertising, and graphic design and a Master?s degree in business. She teaches marketing to college students and small business owners through the University of Michigan – Flint, and gives marketing direction through her consulting business, Sorrell Rhoades Marketing. Rhoades currently serves as a Technology Business Consultant with the MI-SBTDC.

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