December 14, 2005

LIVINGSTON, Ala.—Kenneth Walker recently joined the staff of the University of West Alabama as the Director of the Small Business Development Center.  Walker, who was formerly the Director of the Business Development and Urban Economic Research Center at Alabama State University, brings 18 years of business development experience to UWA.

Walker holds a master’s degree in Human Resources Management from Troy University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Alabama State University in Public Relations with emphasis in Business Management. He has served as an adjunct professor at Alabama State University in the areas of Entrepreneurship and Business Management. Walker has also conducted more than 500 national and international professional speeches and training sessions on entrepreneurship and economic/community development.

Walker, who has 15 years experience of operational management of federally and state funded programs, has helped several Alabama small businesses secure and procure millions of dollars in loan funds and contracts. He has been appointed by three Alabama governors to serve on economic tasks-force teams and advisory boards. He has also been identified by the National Associations for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as one of the nation's 500 Leaders between the ages of 25-50. In addition, Walker received the Montgomery Advertiser’s Under 40 Leadership Award.

Walker is also one of fifty national recipients selected from of a pool of more than 300 for the prestigious Kellogg Management Fellowship for Emerging Leaders. This fellowship is designed to prepare the next generation of community and public health leaders by identifying and training those individuals with the talent to serve in significant leadership capacities in the next decade.

Walker is a member of several, boards and organizations including the State Advisory Board of the Alabama Small Business Development Consortium; Board Member, Montgomery Area United Way; Board Chair, Alabama State University Small Business Development Center; Member, Empire Who's Who of Empowering Executive & Professionals; Steering Committee Member, Alabama Minority Enterprise Development Week (MED) Annual Conference; Advisory Board Member, Montgomery, Alabama, Minority Business Development Center; Chorus Director, Antioch Baptist Church and State Certified Volunteer Fire Fighter.

“I am proud to be apart of the UWA family and look forward to the opportunity of helping to promote the growth of small businesses in the Black Region of our state,” said Walker, who is known throughout Alabama as a hardworking, trustworthy and faithful servant to perspective and existing small business owners.

UWA’s Small Business Development Center and Regional Center for Community & Economic Development will work closely to provide viable and reliable service to the Black Belt regional communities and citizens.