Rick Ohlrich, Interim Director
Rick acts as the Interim Director of the Alameda County SBDC. He joined the SBDC as a counselor at the end of  2006 and was asked to assume the role of Lead Business Advisor in January 2008. Prior to joining the Alameda SBDC, Rick has spent over 20 years involved in new product development, new product introductions, many aspects of sales, sales management and marketing and in growing revenue for new products and services.

Rick has an MBA from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration and a BSIE degree from Purdue University.

Interim Director
Rick Ohlrich
(510) 208-0412
rick@acsbdc.org

Paula Groves-Hawthorne, Lead Business Advisor
Paula Groves-Hawthorne acts as the Lead Business Advisor for the Alameda County SBDC matching client requests for services with the best available resource. She has over 15 years of private equity and investment experience and helped generate over $80 million in returns to investors.  Most recently, she was co-founding partner of Axxon Capital which had over $50 million under management. 
 
Prior to founding Axxon Capital, Ms. Groves-Hawthorne was a partner with Triumph Capital Group where she helped complete more than $115 million of private equity investments for a range of companies.   

As an industry veteran, Ms. Groves-Hawthorne experience includes working with start-up companies, firms interested in acquisition strategies and businesses seeking growth and buy-out financing. Having appeared on CNNfn and The Money Gang, she frequently speaks about private equity.

Prior to joining Triumph, Ms. Groves-Hawthorne spent time with First Boston, Leo Burnett advertising agency, and Twentieth Century Fox Film.  She has also served as board member for several nonprofit organizations.

Ms. Groves-Hawthorne has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Stanford University.

Lead Business Advisor
Paula Groves-Hawthorne
(510) 208-0411
paula@acsbdc.org