Director hired for ASBTDC’s Fort Smith office

The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center (ASBTDC)’s Fort Smith office is officially open and ready to help business owners in Sebastian, Crawford and Scott counties.

Following a nationwide search, Bill Sabo has been named the regional office director of the center, which will serve businesses in Sebastian, Crawford and Scott counties, the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith announced Monday (Aug. 30). His salary is $55,000. Sabo most recently worked in economic development in New Orleans before moving to Fort Smith in 2021.

“It’s an exciting time for the River Valley. There is a lot of growth and a very entrepreneurial spirit,” Sabo said. “Our office will provide a wide range of support for starting or expanding a business.”

With the opening of the Fort Smith office, UAFS joins nine other universities and colleges in ASBTDC’s statewide network.

Before taking on the role of ASBTDC director at UAFS, Sabo owned a marketing company and spent more than 20 years in media with Gannett, Knight-Ridder, and E.W. Scripps, a news release said. In New Orleans, he worked in the mayor’s office leading the Tech Hire initiative for the Obama White House. He then was director of Food, Music, & Technology for the New Orleans Business Alliance, the city’s economic development organization.

UAFS announced in February it received more than $78,000 in funding to launch the newest regional office of the ASBTDC. The ASBTDC is the state’s business assistance provider, bringing higher education together with economic development practices that assist entrepreneurs, both new and seasoned, with every aspect of business creation, management, and operation. Its one-on-one consulting services are confidential, tailored to each individual business, and provided free of charge.

Part of the university’s College of Business & Industry, the ASBTDC office is housed on the main UAFS campus and will move into a new facility in the Bakery District in Downtown Fort Smith later in the year. UAFS at The Bakery District also will be the new home for UAFS’ Center for Business and Professional Development and the Family Enterprise Center, both of which are now housed in the Flanders Building on the UAFS campus.

The Bakery District is a developing hub for community events at 70 S. Seventh Street, in what was the 1920s-era Shipley Baking Co.

Funding for regional offices of the ASBTDC is provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration and administered by the lead center located at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Dr. Latisha Settlage, dean of the College of Business and Industry, led efforts at UAFS to secure funding for the Fort Smith office and said the ASBTDC office will be an exceptional resource to the greater Fort Smith region.

The ASBTDC, the Center for Business and Professional Development and the Family Enterprise Center combine to allow the university to meet the educational needs of the city’s workforce and help entrepreneurs realize their dreams of opening a new business, said Dr. Terisa Riley, UAFS chancellor. Target open date for all the centers at the Bakery District is Nov. 1.