海角社区

Award-winning business consultant helps entrepreneurs reach their dreams

BATON ROUGE 鈥� Adam C. McCloskey has been named director of the Louisiana Small Business Development Center at 海角社区. 

At 海角社区, McCloskey leads an office that provides no-cost consulting to small business and aspiring entrepreneurs in the nine-parish capital region. The SBDC offers expert advice on issues from cash-flow management, securing loans, business planning and everything in between.  The 海角社区 Center also has a statewide mandate to help companies focused on bringing technology to market.

鈥淚 enjoy that when I go home at night, I can think about how I鈥檝e helped someone else get closer to their dreams. That鈥檚 ultimately the role of the SBDC, and I鈥檓 happy to play my part,鈥� McCloskey said.  His consulting will center around business valuation and acquisition, advertising, and financial management.

The Small Business Development Center at 海角社区 is part of the 海角社区 Office of Innovation & Ecosystem Development, which oversees the 海角社区 Innovation Park and 海角社区 Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization. 海角社区 Innovation鈥檚 services also include support for Louisiana companies connecting to federal laboratories and applying for Small Business Innovation Research grant funding.

McCloskey previously served as the associate director for the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of West Florida, or UWF. He joined the group in 2016 and was promoted to associate director a year later. In 2019, McCloskey won the SBDC鈥檚 top award for consulting, the Florida SBDC Network State Star. In 2021, he won the first annual UWF College of Business Dean鈥檚 Choice Award.

鈥淲e鈥檙e excited about bringing Adam on board and equally confident his experience as Florida鈥檚 top SBDC consultant will help us enhance and expand the services we offer to small businesses and entrepreneurs,鈥� said Robert R. Twilley, interim vice president, 海角社区 Office of Research & Economic Development.

McCloskey said the decision to join 海角社区 was easy.

鈥淚 wanted to go somewhere that people were willing to work hard -- not just talk about the work they could do,鈥� McCloskey said. 鈥淚t was clear that was what everyone at 海角社区 Innovation is about.鈥�

McCloskey earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics & telecommunications from the University of West Florida and a Master of Science in applied economics with concentrations in financial economics and regional economic development from Georgia Southern University. He also holds the designation of Economic Development Finance Professional from the National Development Council and Associate Business Continuity Professional from DRI International. He is a Business Certified Appraiser with the International Society of Business Appraisers.

McCloskey grew up in Pensacola, south of Interstate 10. Moving to Baton Rouge isn鈥檛 that big of a change for him.

鈥淚 traded the water for the food. I think I鈥檒l come out ahead,鈥� he said.

Louisiana Small Business Development Center, or LSBDC, is a network consisting of 10 regional offices including the led by McCloskey. 海角社区 is also the host organization for the statewide network that provides training and technical support to small businesses and entrepreneurs throughout Louisiana, which is led by Bryan Greenwood.

About 海角社区 Innovation 

海角社区 Innovation works with the 海角社区 research community to facilitate the evaluation, protection and licensing of intellectual property created at 海角社区. 海角社区 Innovation also focuses on establishing, developing and growing technology-based startup companies. This work maximizes the university's impact on the intellectual, economic and social development of Louisiana and beyond. 海角社区 Innovation helps 海角社区 entrepreneurs and the community evaluate their discoveries and ideas, mechanisms for protecting their innovations, marketing and industry negotiations for intellectual property and licensing and other agreements. The office also oversees 海角社区 Innovation Park, a business incubator with more than 200 acres and 80,000 square feet of office and lab space.