Ross is the Director of Technology Commercialization at the Illinois Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Bradley University. His primary duties include assisting entrepreneurs in the process of applying for a patent and advising entrepreneurs who are looking to commercialize a patent. Ross is skilled in Innovation processes such as Lean Launchpad, Lean Startup and Design Thinking. He teaches these methodologies to clients to help them develop better products and services for customers. The goal is to understand the customer’s problems and develop solutions for those problems. This helps clients develop solutions that will sell and solve customer problems.
Prior to this current position, Ross was the Director of the Small Business Development Center and held various positions advising entrepreneurs in Central Illinois since 2001. Ross has presented numerous seminars on topics such as managing taxes, marketing, web site development, and search engine optimization.
Ross is also an entrepreneur, starting his own business in 2019 where he works directly with businesses that are introducing new products into the market. He leads projects to develop and sell products until a sustainable business model is tested and established.
Prior to working at the SBDC, Ross received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from the University of South Dakota, spent several years in the advertising industry, and at the beginning of 1997, he began selling and managing web site development and marketing projects. Initially working with small businesses in Kentucky, then working with Fortune 500 manufacturers to develop effective web sites.