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Charles D. Eason  

Chuck Eason serves as the Director and Business Advisor for the Solano College Small Business Development Center.  Prior to coming to Solano Community College, Chuck was Associate Director of the California Community College’s Statewide Economic Development Network (ED>Net).  He also served as the Dean of the Napa Valley College Upper Valley Campus where he managed campus operations, the district’s non-credit program and fee-based classes, the Napa Valley Cooking School and the Napa Valley College Small Business Development Center.  Before moving to Northern California in 1997, Chuck worked for the Inland Empire SBDC as Manager of the Inland Empire Business Locator located at the former Norton AFB in San Bernardino.

Chuck is a graduate of UC San Diego where he earned a BS degree in Engineering Sciences and a graduate of CSU San Bernardino where he earned a MBA with an emphasis in marketing.  Chuck also worked in the defense industry as a systems engineer for TRW’s Ballistic Missile Program and later founded OPTEMA Development Corporation, a real estate and commercial development firm which developed spec homes and operated a chain of Gourmet Coffee Houses (Bittersweet Caffe).  In addition to being a former business owner, he also has extensive experience working with small businesses as a business broker and consultant.

Floyd Hicks  

Over the span of his 25-year banking career, Floyd served the last 16 years as Vice President and Senior Lending Officer of Oakland Business Development Corporation, a local development company. His duties included providing management, technical advice and financing to the small business community. Financing instruments included the City of Oakland HUD program loans; and, U.S. Small Business Administration 504,7a and Women and Minority Pre-Qualificaton Loan Programs. In addition, Hicks was successful in obtaining the U.S. Small Business Administration Micro-Loan Program for use in Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and Solano counties.

For the past several years, Floyd Hicks has provided SBDC clients business planning, financial projections assistance and review in addition to technical help and advice on qualifying and applying for financing to start, buy or expand Solano County businesses. Hicks also provides small business mentoring to individuals and business owners through the SBDC's monthy Small Business Clinic.

Charles M. Monahan  

Charlie is, currently, the Director of the Napa Valley College Small Business Devleopment Center and a former restaurant owner, corporate trainer and operations manager with over 20 years experience in the food service industry. As a restaurant and food consultant, his areas of responsibility and expertise included new product development, new store openings (40+), management duties and employee trainee programs. In addition, Monahan has had an abundance of experience analyzing the financial and operational performance on many different types of businesses.

As a Solano College SBDC business advisor, Monahan financially analyzed local businesses to help clients improve margins, increase profitability as well as identify, implement and monitor strategies and processes to improve overall business operations. Examples of his work include helping clients complete business and marketing plans for financing and lease acquisition. Charlie's clients also use their business plans as road maps for growth and development of their business to their "next" level of success.

Another of Monahan's strengths is helping businesses address human resources issues such as developing job descriptions, employee evaluations, HR manuals, training materials and employee or customer surveys. His motto is "Achieve quality and profitability by linking goals to people with respect and effective communication.

Charlie Monahan earned his MBA in strategic leadership through Dominican University. As the Director of the Napa Valley College Small Business Development Center in Napa, California, Monahan can be reached by calling (707) 253-3210.

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