Ronda Hawkins, director of the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center regional office at Arkansas Tech University, has earned certification as an Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) from the National Development Council (NDC).
According to a news release provided by the NDC, EDFP certification is a professional credential given to individuals who successfully complete NDC’s economic development finance training series. The training provides individuals working in the field of economic development with instruction in business credit analysis, real estate financing, loan packaging, deal structuring and negotiating and the creation and implementation of development programs.
Each of the four EDFP certification program courses are five days in length and concludes with an exam. Upon successful completion of all four courses, the candidate is awarded EDFP certification.
An alumna of ATU, Hawkins joined the staff for the ASBTDC regional office at her alma mater as business consultant and training coordinator in July 2012. She was promoted to center director in February 2020. Hawkins consults one-on-one with current and aspiring business owners and has earned multiple statewide awards from ASBTDC for her work in support of clients.
The ASBTDC regional office at Arkansas Tech is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration through a partnership with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the ATU College of Business and Economic Development.
The ASBTDC regional office at ATU is designed to assist new, existing and expanding businesses in a six-county region by offering a variety of services including free one-to-one confidential consulting, free market research and low-cost or free training.
Visit www.atu.edu/asbtdc or call (479) 356-2067 for more information.
