Martha Stansbury named director of the Small Business Development Center at Stony Brook University

A resource center at Stony Brook University for small businesses in Suffolk County will have a new leader, effective Tuesday, officials told Newsday.

Martha M. Stansbury has been named director of the Small Business Development Center, also known as the Stony Brook SBDC. She succeeds Bernie Ryba who is retiring after 20 years, including eight years as director.

The Stony Brook center is among nearly 1,000 SBDCs across the country, including one at Farmingdale State College.

SBDCs are affiliated with the U.S. Small Business Administration and provide one-on-one counseling, workshops and other programs for free. SBDC advisers often have run companies and earned college degrees in accounting, business management and marketing, among others.

Stansbury, 66, of East Setauket, said she joined the Stony Brook SBDC in 2017 as center administrator. She has been responsible for developing and managing budgets and overseeing operations and marketing.

“I want to continue our outreach program so that entrepreneurs know how we can help them start a business or grow their business, particularly if they are in underserved communities,” Stansbury said, referring to women and members of minority groups.

“We also want to continue looking ahead at new industries, such as wind energy and the green economy. How can we help our clients to enter these new markets, to become subcontractors,” she said in an interview.

The Stony Brook SBDC, with a staff of nine people, helped 1,100 people last year, 600 of whom were new clients, according to Stansbury.

Before coming to the center, she was interim director of Stony Brook’s business incubator in Calverton, business manager at Gallery North in Setauket and worked as a consultant. Her volunteer activities include serving as president of the trade group, Women Economic Developers of Long Island, and treasurer of the Three Village Chamber of Commerce.