Alumni Dan Brosman ’15, ’21, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Small Business Development Center (SBDC) director; and Alia Carroll ’17, consultant with the SBDC center at UW-Eau Claire, have received national recognition as outstanding young professionals.
“I am truly honored to have been selected as a recipient,” Brosman said, adding the award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire team. “It’s fulfilling to be recognized by my peers in Wisconsin, and nationally. I am grateful for the work we do in the SBDC and the impact that is being made on our small business community. The appreciation of these efforts is inspiring and motivating.”
Brosman earned a bachelor of business administration degree in human resources and a master of business administration from UWO. Besides his role with the SBDC, he also serves as Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation director at UWO.
In a nomination submitted by business consultant Sean Fitzgerald, it was noted that Brosman has obtained more than $1 million in funding since 2021 to operate the center’s Digital Marketing Clinic (DMC), which provides business owners across the Wisconsin SBDC network with no-cost strategy guidance to optimize their digital marketing assets, including websites, social media and email marketing.
The DMC served more than 200 business owners at an average of 15.3 hours per client, with services provided by upper-level marketing student interns who received “meaningful experiential work opportunities” to help improve local small businesses.
“Dan is full of energy and willingness to embrace new ideas,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s a pleasure to come into the office each day and work with Dan to build upon our symbiotic partnerships with various economic development organizations in the Fox Valley.”
Brosman established partnerships with chambers of commerce across the region—including on-site office hours to increase consulting activity in underserved communities. The Oshkosh center increased the number of minority clients served from 17.6% in 2021 to 23.7% in 2022.
Brosman oversees all graduate and undergraduate student entrepreneurial programming, including the annual Culver’s Student Business Plan Competition and the annual Titan Business Accelerator Program. He also heads the committee for the annual Pitch! regional business plan competition and serves as volunteer financial consultant for Kimberly High School’s INCubator Edu student entrepreneur program.
Carroll, who earned a bachelor of business administration degree in supply chain management, started with the SBDC at UWO as a business consultant in 2021. She worked for about a year until transitioning to a remote financial consultant position with the SBDC at UW-Eau Claire.
“She (Carroll) is an exceptional consultant—she is committed to her work and goes above to provide the best support to her clients,” Brosman said, adding she has the admiration of colleagues and clients.
All 40 national winners will be honored at a reception Sept. 7 in Nashville during the annual America’s SBDC Conference.
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