Fran Scarlett

Regional Director

fscarlett@sbtdc.org

Fran Scarlett, Regional Director of the SBTDC at UNC Wilmington, has broad business experience, specializing in helping companies recognize and leverage the strengths of their business units and maximize their potential for revenue growth. Her experience working with companies across several industries has prepared her well for assessing the situations of businesses large and small and recommending efficient, sustainable solutions.

Fran received her MBA from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Boston University. She has run her own management consulting firm, Scarlett Ink Media, since 2007, providing strategic and tactical consulting to media, biotech and non-profit organizations. Prior to that, she was creator and general manager of the custom publishing division of a major newspaper and Internet company.

She has served on the Foundation Board of Cuyahoga Community College, is a member of the American Advertising Federation and was an inaugural member of the local governing body of Athena Powerlink. Fran has been profiled in Presstime and Kaleidoscope magazines’ “40 under 40” issues, has been recognized as a YWCA Women of Excellence and is a member of Leadership Cleveland, Class of 1999.

James Howell

Business Counselor

James Howell’s broad professional career spans over 20 years as a corporate manager and executive, in which he was responsible for a variety of financial, planning and administrative functions, including strategic planning, financial planning, financial analysis, budgeting and forecasting. These roles were all in international, multi-unit manufacturing companies. He also funded, managed and sold two startup companies in service industries in North Carolina. In two other entrepreneurial endeavors, he started and managed a private investment banking firm and a management consulting firm, both of which worked primarily with small companies in Michigan and the UK. Jim is a retired Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy (Reserve).

In addition to his extensive professional experience, Jim earned a Master of Business (MBA) degree from Michigan State University and a Bachelor of Arts from Kalamazoo College in Michigan.

ANN HOWARD

Business Counselor

Ann Howard is a general business counselor at SBTDC, UNC Wilmington.

Before coming to the SBTDC, Ann managed marketing and public relations for a small local business. Her areas of expertise are in new media marketing and crisis communications.  She has additional experience in business valuation and technology transfer research. She has volunteered locally for many organizations including the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, Good Shepherd Ministries, and Coastal Horizons, Inc. She was a Presidential Scholar at Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC, graduating with a degree in Journalism.  She received her MBA from the Cameron School of Business at UNCW .

Jack Morrow

Boating Industry Services Counselor

Jack is a veteran business consultant and manager with over thirty year’s experience. He is a Certified Public Accountant with experience in International Commercial Banking, Big 4 Public Accounting, and Industrial Management. He worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Washington DC and Pittsburgh, Pa, and Mellon Bank NA as a worldwide commercial credit Officer. Operational and financial management of medium sized manufacturing and development organizations has been his specialty for the last fifteen years as a corporate consultant for his own firm. Jack received his undergraduate degree in Accounting and Business Management from Point Park College in Pittsburgh, Pa and his Masters courses in Taxation were at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. He passed the CPA examination in Pennsylvania in 1974 and has an inactive OPUV Coast Guard Captain’s License.

Amy Cobb

Assistant Business Counselor

Amy Cobb is the Assistant Business Counselor at SBTDC, UNC Wilmington.  She serves as the primary front-line contact point for SBTDC clients, prospective clients and others.  Amy focuses on a clients initial needs assessment, some general business counseling needs and administrative and program management needs of the office.  

Ms. Cobb and her family relocated to the Wilmington in the summer of 2007.  Prior to their move, Amy was a Senior Project Associate, focusing on events and logistical management, at the Critical Infrastructure Protection Program at George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia.

Ms. Cobb’s professional experience is in public program, events and logistical management.  She graduated from Douglass College, at Rutgers the State University of New Jersey in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Minor in Women’s Studies.  Amy is currently enrolled in the Masters of Public Administration program at UNCW.