Counselor Biographies
Steve Anzur
Steve Anzur has been the executive director of the Springfield SBDC since 2004. Prior to that, he owned two businesses - a machine shop, Laan, Inc., and Coding Services, a data entry company - for 20 years. He was a project consultant for State Farm Insurance Company for five years. Steve successfully expanded his machining company from low tolerance to high quality, diverse products for the transportation industry and grew his two companies from two employees into more than 100. As an SBDC consultant, he meets with owners of existing businesses to review their short-term needs. Based on this analysis, SBDC identifies a company's problems and develops a plan to improve its results. He also teaches a workshop for start up businesses and assists entrepreneurs with creating business plans and financial projections.
Dave Merkel
Dave Merkel's career in industrial sales and marketing spans the world. He worked for U.S. and international (Japanese, Finnish and French) companies, small as well as Fortune 500. His experience includes plant, foreman, technical field sales, regional and national sales, marketing, and new product business development. He achieved the senior position of National Sales Manager in a national firm. Most of Dave's time was spent with industrial firms who market products through distribution (both one- and two-step) to a variety of end users. Dave oversaw customer service, handled a field sales force (both direct and agents) and developed training programs. He used his marketing skills to craft product marketing and pricing strategies, to develop new product roll outs, advertising, and catalogs and to supervise the trade shows. Dave served as a board member of ISA that served over 600 industrial, distributors and end users in North America. He earned his Bachelor's degree from Miami University.
Matthew Winterhoff
Matthew Winterhoff counsels organizations on the web site development and Internet marketing strategies. He can help organizations understand basic Internet concepts and provide assistance with existing websites or guide them through all phases of developing a new site from discovery and planning phases to the finished project. Winterhoff offers web design critiques, traffic analysis, search engine optimization (SEO), Cloud-based computing and web marketing. He holds a degree in Internetworking Administration from Ohio University and has seven years of experience creating web sites, and business strategies that utilize the Internet. Prior to moving back to Springfield in 2007, Winterhoff was a senior IT consultant in Cincinnati. His web development company, Winterhoff Internet Solutions, specializes in custom web applications and content management solutions.
Michael E. Crockett
Mike Crockett served for 20 years as the City of Springfield Minority Business Coordinator. During that time, he provided small business development counseling, including local, state and federal certifications for minority, disadvantaged, and female business enterprises. Mike reviewed and approved minority and female certifications, local affirmative action and equal employment opportunity programs for city contracts. He coordinated the city's Lead Safe Training classes, with over 300 small business contractors and workers receiving state lead licensures, and assisted the licensees with contracts and employment with Lead-Safe Springfield and other government procurement programs. He prepared federal reports for city and planned community events and programs. Mike also served as statewide coordinator for the Ohio Department of Development Minority Business Division, a licensed insurance, sold real estate and owned his own retail and wholesale meat distributorship. He became a counselor for SBDC shortly after retiring from the city in early 2009.
Mark Keating
Mark Keating assists clients with start-up planning and financial services. He has a wealth of experience in banking and lending garnered from his 30 years working for both large and small financial services entities. His experience includes business management, lending, marketing and operating budgets, employee training and supervision issues, all of which help him analyze the current standing of an existing business or the viability of a new start up enterprise. As the owner of a residential paint contracting company started in 2007, he understands all aspects of business operations - from the owner's point of view.