Specialty Services Director added to N.D. Business Development network

Tyler Demars, business coach and development specialist, brought on to enhance network’s small-business outreach & advising services

BISMARCK, North Dakota – North Dakota Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) along with the North Dakota Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) are pleased to announce that Tyler Demars has joined our network in the newly created role of Specialty Services Director.

Demars, a long-time Bismarck resident, has worked in business and economic development for the last 10 years. He most recently worked at the Center for Technology & Business with the InnovateND program, a program of the ND Department of Commerce. He received his master’s degree in strategic leadership from the University of Mary.

We have known Tyler and his work for some time, and we are very excited to bring his knowledge, partnerships, and passion into our network to build the ND SBDC services portfolio in these very important priority areas. Tyler is already pushing forward by establishing and renewing relationships with communities and organizations in our state where small business development services will be beneficial.

The newly created Specialty Services Director position is shared between the ND SBDC and ND PTAC programs. In this role, Demars will work to enhance the small business advising services of the ND SBDC to target new and emerging markets across the state. This will include working directly with minority and tribal communities as well as supplementing training, workshops, and events that will help small businesses across the state with topics ranging from start-up logistics and financing your venture to supply chain assistance and contracting opportunities.

Demars’ efforts with the ND PTAC program will help expand the program’s overall capacity, enabling the team to give more focused time to advancing government contracting in North Dakota.

ND SBDC and ND PTAC program partners have expressed their interest in, and support of, augmenting our services in these markets. While the tasks sound very different from each other, pairing contracting and emerging markets unites the services of both programs. Each year, the amount of federal contract set-asides for small businesses and minority-owned small businesses increases. Making connections between clients and these market opportunities is a key strategy to increase the number of successful small businesses, and the amount of contracts awarded to small businesses in our state, resulting in economic growth, supporting job creation and retention, and also the diversity of our business base.

Both the ND SBDC and ND PTAC are statewide outreach programs of the Center for Business Engagement & Development within the Nistler College of Business & Public Administration at the University of North Dakota. Since its inception in 1986, the ND SBDC network has helped business owners and entrepreneurs start, manage, and grow their small businesses through confidential, individualized, professional business advising and training workshops. Services are provided at no-cost to clients thanks to funding from U.S. Small Business Administration, North Dakota Department of Commerce, the University of North Dakota, and local supporters across the state.

ND PTAC works to expand the number of small businesses that successfully compete for and win federal, state, and local government contracts via no-cost, one-on-one assistance and training for North Dakota businesses both large and small. Program funding is provided by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), North Dakota Department of Commerce, and the University of North Dakota.

For more information on the ND SBDC programs or services, call 701.777.3700, email leadcenter@ndsbdc.org, visit our website, ndsbdc.org or find on social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram). For more information on the ND PTAC program, call 701.328.5857, email ndptac@und.edu, visit our website, ndptac.org, or fund us on social media (Facebook, LinkedIn).

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Tyler Demars headshot, 30KB

Press Contacts: Tiffany Ford, 701.777.8700, tiffany.ford@und.edu
Marnie Schuschke, 701.777.3700, marnie.schuschke@und.edu