WALTHAM, MA— Robert H. Nelson, director of Small Business Administration’s Massachusetts District Office, will be the chief guest and keynote speaker at the 16th Annual Woman of the Year Awards Gala on Friday, June 1, 2017, at Burlington Marriott Hotel in Burlington, MA.
“We are excited to announce that Mr. Nelson will be the Chief Guest and the keynote speaker at Woman of the Year Awards gala,” said Upendra Mishra, publisher of INDIA New England News and its sister publications, IndUS Business Journal and Boston Real Estate Times. “We are looking forward to honoring 20 outstanding women at the gala.”
In addition to honoring 20 outstanding women, the Woman of the Year Awards gala, which is produced and organized annually by INDIA New England News, will also honor Shobha Shastri with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Ms. Shastri is founder and CEO of Alankar Event Planners & Decorators, who has followed her passion for serving the community for two decades.
As district director, Mr. Nelson is responsible for the effective delivery of SBA’s financial and business development programs with a mission to counsel, assist and protect the interests of small businesses statewide in order to maintain and strengthen the economy. He has 25 years of federal service, 19 of which have been with the SBA.
Mr. Nelson and the Massachusetts District Office staff work to help entrepreneurs to start, grow and build their businesses through access to capital, government contracting and technical assistance.
On the financial side, Mr. Nelson is responsible for increasing delivery of the popular 7(a) and 504 loan programs, which help small businesses obtain debt capital. During his tenure as district director, Massachusetts has seen tremendous increases in the use of SBA loan programs statewide.
Massachusetts consistently ranks as one of the most productive district offices in terms of access to capital for small businesses. Nelson is also responsible for SBA oversight of the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center’s (MSBDC) statewide network, the six Massachusetts chapters of SCORE: Counselors to America’s Small Business and the Massachusetts Women’s Business Center – the Center for Women & Enterprise.
Before joining the SBA, Bob spent a number of years with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). He also has several years of banking experience, having been a commercial lender for several New England area banks. He was a Vice President at Shawmut Bank, R.I.
During his SBA career, Mr. Nelson has also served in the following capacities: Acting Deputy Associate Administrator of Capital Access – Washington, DC; Acting New England Regional Administrator- Boston, MA and Acting District Director – Lubbock, TX and Hartford, CT. Mr. Nelson holds a BA degree in Economics from Hobart College in Geneva, New York.
