Regional Director Rochelle Layman has been assisting New York state small businesses since 2008. She began her career as a computer application developer and corporate trainer working with large corporations including Aetna Mutual Funds and Farm Credit Banks. In addition to her ten years of corporate experience, Rochelle was the owner and operator of two successful restaurants in Southwestern New York for 13 years. Her financial corporate experience, small-business success and small-business advisement skills aid her in assisting small business owners in dealing with their financial and operational problems.

Rochelle has been the Regional Director of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Binghamton University since 2012. The Small Business Development Center’s goal is to assist entrepreneurs, business and industry in the solution of their problems, which leads to increased profitability for the entrepreneur and increased investment and job creation for the community. By assisting new and existing small business firms, the SBDC contributes to the stability and growth of the small business sector of the economy in New York State. Since the center’s start in 1984, the staff of the SBDC have worked directly with 26,818 businesses, helping them to invest $364,595,616 in the area’s economy, and create or save 16,443 jobs.