Northland Foundation names new Regional and Associate Directors for Small Business Development Center Northland SBDC business consultants elevated to leadership positions

Vicki Hagberg

Northeast MN – The Northland Foundation announces that Northland Small Business Development Center (SBDC) business consultants, Vicki Hagberg and Curt Walczak, have been promoted to new leadership positions. Hagberg takes on the role of Regional Director, and Walczak steps into the position of Associate Director. The Foundation is the regional host organization for the Northland SBDC within northeast Minnesota.

Vicki Hagberg joined the Northland SBDC as a business consultant in 2020 and has been serving as Associate Director of the program since September 2021. In her upcoming role as Regional Director of the Northland Small Business Development Center program, she will lead the organization’s regional team of 15 consultants in their efforts to help small businesses start and grow. Hagberg holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and has 14 years of experience in engineering and project management in addition to her work in community and economic development.

Curt Walczak

She has served on a variety of regional boards and committees related to economic development, rural healthcare, workforce attraction and retention, quality of life, and other rural vitality efforts. She is a lifelong resident of the Iron Range and primarily consults with small businesses in the communities of Hibbing and Chisholm.

Curt Walczak has worked as a professional business consultant for the SBDC for the past 21 years helping clients prepare business plans and analyze financial statements. He works with northeast Minnesota businesses of all different sizes, from one-person start-ups to entities that have been in business for many years with numerous employees. His educational background includes an accounting degree, business management degree, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certification, Certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor, and Economic Development Finance Professional certification. He also has 19 years of private industry experience where he was a purchasing agent, office manager, and information technology manager.

Michael Colclough, Business Services Director at the Northland Foundation will continue to oversee the Northland Small Business Development operations at a high level, as well as continue leading the Foundation’s small business lending activities. Northland Foundation is a non-traditional lender primarily providing gap financing in partnership with other lenders to support a diverse economy, entrepreneurship, and job growth in the region.

“Both Vicki and Curt have wide-ranging business development experience, knowledge, and skills,” said Colclough of the promotions, “along with a passion for helping small business owners – and their fellow SBDC consultants – foster economic prosperity, sustainability, and equity across our rural region.”

The Northland Foundation and Northland SBDC serve the same geographic footprint which includes seven northeast Minnesota counties: Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, and St. Louis, and all or parts of five native Nations: Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (District I) and Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe (District II). Learn more atnorthlandfdn.org and northlandsbdc.org.