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68 Doing Business in Connecticut | 2017 Small Business INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT › By Luther Turmelle T he road that led Anne Hunt to the Connecticut District Director's office for the U.S. Small Busi- ness Administration could just as easily have taken another turn. e Massachusetts native hadn't intended to spend her entire 36-year professional career working for the federal agency. Fresh out of the Massachusetts School of Liberal Arts in 1981, Hunt faced the challenge of finding a job in an economy that le many college graduates out of work for many months before beginning their careers. "It's really kind of identical to the job market we're seeing for today's college graduates," Hunt said. "I sent out a lot of resumes that summer and the Small Business Administration was one of the first interviews that I got." Career Path Hunt worked her way up through the ranks at the SBA's Massachusetts District office. During that time, she also earned an MBA at Salem State University. Among the titles that Hunt had at the Massachusetts SBA office are lead lender relations specialist and chief of finance. She rose to become the deputy district direc- tor of the office in 2014, a position that she held until April 2016, when she was hired to replace Bernie Sweeney, who had retired as the district director of the Connecticut office seven months earlier. Hunt said the way SBA operates since she began her career with the agency "has been streamlined significantly." "When I started with SBA, we were actually making direct loans to businesses," Hunt said. "Now we just guarantee loans made by banks and other lenders." Having a loan backed by the federal government makes it easier for banks to make loans that they might not otherwise make, she said. Her primary job in Connecticut is to raise awareness of what the SBA offers for small business owners and entrepreneurs. She leads a team of eight, working out of the SBA district office in Hartford. One of her staff operates out of an office in Bridgeport, so that SBA can more efficiently serve Fairfield County. "Everyone has a county and is responsible for getting out into the towns," she said. Aer working for more than 35 years with small businesses, Hunt has some simple pieces of advice for entrepreneurs. She said it's always good to turn existing expertise into a business, rather than striking out in an industry you know nothing about. "ey also need to develop financial projections for the business that are both realistic and attainable," she said. Hunt said SBA frequently refers fledgling entrepreneurs to the Service Corps of Retired Executives. e nonprofit group is made up of active and retired business people who serve as mentors to those just starting out and can oen help entrepre- neurs make realistic financial projections. Individuals interested in starting their own businesses need to enter the process with a set of realistic expectations, according to Hunt. "A lot of people think it's glamorous to own their own business," she said. "But it's a lot of hard work." ❑ in Connecticut by the end of next year." Dream Payments has a workforce of about 30 people, he said. The company is part of what is known as the financial-tech sector, which has developed a critical mass of companies in two regions of the United States, according to Walker. "If you're a fin-tech company, you want to be looking in either California or the Northeast," he said. "We were looking at both and so the money we got [from VentureClash] made the decision a whole lot easier." e money that Dream Payments won was part of $12.2 million that Connecticut Innovations invested in technology com- panies during the second quarter of the agency's fiscal year, which ended Dec. 31, 2016. e investments went to 31 companies and scientific projects, according to David Wurzer, chief investment officer for Con- necticut Innovations. e agency invested $6.6 million in bioscience companies and $5.6 million in IT companies. ❑ BUSINESS SAVVY Hunt Worked Her Way Up to the CT SBA Office PHOTO/SBA PROFILE Anne Hunt ' We provide direct access to capital as well as access to talent and skills expertise. ' — Glendowlyn Thames, direcTor of The small Business innovaTion Group, cTnexT > Continued from page 64