Chic Spotlight: Bonnie Deer
Cincy Chic: Where do you work and what do you do there?
Bonnie Deer: I work for the Cincinnati Branch Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). The Mission of the SBA is the help small businesses start, grow and succeed. I am a business development specialist, women business owner's representative, lender relations specialist and the SBA answer queen! Basically, our office educates small business owners, lenders and other resources that provide services for small business owners about the SBA's programs and services. The SBA not only has loan programs, but we also have business consultants available. In addition, we can provide assistance in "Doing Business with the Government" along with many other services. The Web site at www.sba.gov has information about all our programs and services including online training classes.
Cincy Chic: How did you find yourself in this line of work?
Deer: I began my career as a bank teller in 1969 and was given positions with increasing responsibilities. I became the first female assistant vice president of commercial lending for Bank One of Middletown. I specialized in government financing, which included processing Farmers Home Loans, the State of Ohio 166 Program and, of course, small business administration Loans. So when a position became available for the SBA in Cincinnati in 1992, I sort of "jumped" over to the other side of the process. It was an easy transition since I already worked with everyone in the office while in banking.
Cincy Chic: Tell us about the event that you have coming up…
Deer: We have the Key Business Resources for Women Event upcoming on September 27th at Techsolve, 6705 Steger Drive, Cincinnati. As I had previously mentioned, the SBA has numerous programs and services and we work with all types of resource partners to help small businesses not only to start, but to grow and succeed. This is a very unique event because we will have 45 business specialists available that day at one time and one place. Each attendee will be given the opportunity to have a 10 minute private introduction with the specialist of their choice. They will then have an opportunity to schedule follow-up appointments to discuss "their specific business needs." These business specialists are from a wide variety of sources including lenders, government procurement, WBE Certification, benefit coordinators, marketing, unique funding and more! Additional information including registration is online at: www.swcoptac.org/Events/womenBusResources092707.htm.
Cincy Chic: Aside from work, what do you enjoy doing?
Deer: Don't even get me started about talking about my Horses! My husband and I own a mini-ranch (five acres) where we reside with our five horses. We enjoy trail riding and we usually have a foal every year. This year we had a Palomino Tennessee Walking Filly who's now five months old and she's a cutie.
Cincy Chic: What's your favorite thing about Cincinnati?
Deer: All the different types of things to do from sports, eating out, entertainment, etc.
