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Shenandoah Valley SBDC promotes assistant director to top job

Allison Dugan
Allison Dugan, photo courtesy SV SBDC

The assistant director for the Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center has received a promotion – taking over the reins as director after the retirement of Joyce Krech.

Allison Dugan has been a business advisor with the small business development center since 2015 and became assistant director in 2019. Dugan has a strong business education background and more than 20 years of tourism, sales and marketing experience.

“The Shenandoah Valley SBDC is very adept at one-on-one advising that can be customized for each individual business,” said Dugan. “We want to continue to enhance those services by listening to what businesses and localities truly need, finding gaps in services, and then using the expertise and resources available throughout our extensive network to drive business opportunities and skills to the next level.”

Dugan plans to leverage the resources available through the SBDC network, SV SBDC host institution James Madison University, the SV SBDC Advisory Council, and other regional business programs and initiatives to identify and develop targeted services needed to build and grow small business vitality and agility.

Krech served as director for more than 20 years. Friends, colleagues and business owners came together for her retirement in March.

Crystal Graham

Crystal Graham

Crystal Abbe Graham is the regional editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1999 graduate of Virginia Tech, she has worked for nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor for several Virginia publications, written a book, and garnered more than a dozen Virginia Press Association awards for writing and graphic design. She was the co-host of "Viewpoints," a weekly TV news show, and co-host of Virginia Tonight, a nightly TV news show. Her work on "Virginia Tonight" earned her a national Telly award for excellence in television.