NIU is losing yet another administrator.

The director who revamped and reconstructed NIU’s once struggling Small Business Development Center is resigning his position next week to return to his own consulting firm.

Lawrence Rouse, a four-year director of the center, was hired by NIU in 1988 to serve as a consultant to the center and contribute his experience as a local businessman.

“I was brought in to build up the center to a certain level. I have owned my own local company since 1978, only planning to stay for a year or so, and I stayed for over four years,” Rouse said. “It’s time for me to return to my business.”

Rouse put in so much time and energy as director, which is a full-time university position, that his own firm almost went out of business.

“I feel the center is in good enough shape so it can be handled by other people. I would not be leaving if I didn’t feel the people taking over would run the center as well as I have,” he said.

Joanne Sniegocki has been appointed acting director of the center, having served for a year at the center, as well as currently serving as a management faculty assistant.

Sniegocki expressed regret for Rouse’s departure, but said things still will run smoothly. “We will miss Lawrence terribly, he was a major influence in this office,” he said. “The center will continue to offer the same variety of services it has in the past and we will keep up the same high quality.”

The Small Business Development Center is a consulting service established by NIU in 1984 as part of a community development project, Rouse said. The center works with businesses or people who want to start their own business free of charge.

The center is funded by NIU and the state in hopes of helping the economy by encouraging people to begin their own business.

“I was able to provide professional small business consulting services. We had thousands of hours in one-on-one consultation, which is beneficial to the community and the university,” Rouse said.

The center puts together loan packages, helps existing businesses with personnel problems, licensing and all the aspects of owning a business.

“The biggest thing we do is help people who want money to expand their business put together a package to take to the bank,” Rouse said. “We work by appointment and sit down and discuss everything—all aspects of business.”

NIU’s Small Business Institute also works with the Small Business Development Center. When businesses come to the center, they can be referred to the institute. From there, student teams perform marketing studies and work on projects for the businesses all semester.

“At the end of the semester, they present their findings to the clients as well as a panel of local business people,” Rouse said.

When Rouse became director, the center provided 200 hours a year in counseling. The center now has over 7,000 hours of counseling logged each year.

“The center has definitely improved relations between NIU and the community,” Rouse said. “This has been a very rewarding experience for me. I’ll still stay involved in it; I won’t let it go downhill.”