New State Director Appointed Maine Small Business Development Centers

John R. Massaua, a former small business owner and founding officer of Staples, has been named the state director of the Maine Small Business Development Centers (Maine SBDC).

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and the University of Southern Maine School of Business announced the appointment. Massaua succeeds Charles (Chuck) Davis who, upon completing a statewide research project on entrepreneurial technical assistance, will retire. Davis has served as Maine’s SBDC state director for more than nine years.
With a statewide network of centers and satellite offices, Maine SBDC offers no-cost, one-on-one management and technical assistance services to emerging and existing small businesses. The Centers are funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, USM, and local hosting organizations. The program is administered at the SBDC statewide office on USM’s Portland campus.

Massaua has served as senior vice president of purchasing, merchandising and communications for Millbrook Distribution Services Inc., of Leicester, Mass., a leading distributor of consumer products; as executive vice president of Mott’s Shop-Rite Supermarkets (MSM), East Hartford, Conn., where he introduced the first food and drug combo retail units to New England; and as president of WindowRama Inc., Deer Park, N.Y., where he worked as a turn-around manager for the fledgling chain. As a founding officer of Staples, Massaua developed the company’s store look, its distribution strategy and small business service offerings. Massaua, who earned his undergraduate degree at Fordham and MBA at Fairleigh Dickinson University, is a Price-Babson fellow and adjunct business faculty member at USM. He most recently served as a Maine SBDC business counselor with Coastal Enterprises, Inc. in Fairfield, Maine.

“We are delighted to have John as our new SBDC State Director,” said SBA District Director Mary McAleney. “He brings to us a unique blend of private, non-profit and academic exposure, all of which will be invaluable as he leads the SBDC in assisting Maine’s small businesses to succeed.”

DECD Commissioner Steve Levesque noted that retiring director Chuck Davis has been “a strong advocate for Maine’s small business community. Under his leadership and guidance, the SBDC has been a solid contributor to the fabric of Maine’s economy, of which small business is so much an integral part.”

“Independent studies confirm the value of the SBDC,” said John Bay, interim dean of the USM School of Business. “That is why the University eagerly serves as the SBDC’s administrative host. From new businesses started, to accelerated growth, the SBDC’s impact on the state’s economy has been and continues to be very significant.”
Massaua, who lives in China Village with his wife and daughter, will begin his new responsibilities on Monday, June 25.