CROWN POINT – Gary Brownlee has joined the Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Center as a business adviser. He will work primarily with businesses in Porter County bringing 30 years of experience in the financial services industry to his role.
Brownlee will work directly with new and existing business owners on business planning and execution as well as serve as a guide toward community resources and avenues for financing.
“I would hope to bring an analytical discipline and framework to aspiring entrepreneurs and growth-oriented small businesses. Success in business is a function of having a clearly defined opportunity and business model,” Brownlee said. “Having been involved in a variety of new ventures, I have learned the value of applying fact-based assessments of market opportunities and investment programs to capitalize on them. A good idea is a great start, but requires structure to come to life as a business.”
He has a background in business planning, credit/risk management and financial analysis. Before co-founding a specialty finance business, he served as a senior officer of Indiana Federal Bank where he represented the bank on the Valparaiso Community Corp. board. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, and the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University.
