FuseDSM Monthly Luncheon - Jayne Armstrong of U.S. Small Business Administration

The FuseDSM Monthly Luncheon will typically be held on the 2nd Thursday of every month. Each month the Chamber invites a dynamic speaker to provide timely information affecting our community, insight on issues concerning the community, or inspirational stories which resonate within the community. 

There is networking time prior to the start of the program and lunch being served. This is the monthly event you do not want to miss to maintain those important relationships with your fellow members. 

Jayne Armstrong
Iowa District Director
U.S. Small Business Administration
 
As the District Director of the SBA's Iowa District Office, Jayne Armstrong oversees SBA's financial, business counseling, government contracting programs statewide, including a resource partner network of 15 Small Business Development Centers, four SCORE chapters, a Women's Business Center, and a Veteran's Business Outreach Center.
 
Jayne joined the Iowa District Office from the SBA's Office of Field Operations in Washington, DC. She previously served as the district director of SBA's Virginia, Delaware and West Virginia District Offices, and as regional advocate of the SBA's Office of Advocacy, where she supported public policy at the federal and state levels and helped to organize the White House Conference on Small Business. She also represented the SBA in Russia during the first formal exchange between U.S. and Russian entrepreneurs.
 
Prior to her SBA career, Armstrong worked in the advertising, economic development, and higher education development fields. A native of Pittsburgh, she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from West Virginia University (WVU), where she served as student body president. 
 
In 2018 Armstrong was honored by the Delaware Small Business Chamber of Commerce with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award and was previously recognized on the floor of the U.S. Senate with the "Great Federal Employee Award." She is the recipient of the Risk Management Association's Businesswoman of the Year Award in Virginia, Delaware Today's Women in Business Award, the New Castle County (DE) Chamber's Entrepreneurial Advocate of the Year Award and the Delaware YWCA's Woman of Power, Style, and Brilliance Award.
 
She has been honored on four occasions as Advocate of the Year by National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) chapters in Iowa, Delaware, and Virginia. She also was recognized by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) with its Excellence in Communications Award, Girls Inc., of Delaware as its Volunteer of the Year and The State Journal as one of "The 55 Best Things About West Virginia." She has been appointed to several boards and commissions by three different Governors in West Virginia and Delaware.
 
Armstrong has served on the boards of a wide variety of non-profits and business organizations throughout her career, with a strong focus on the empowerment of women and girls, college recruiting, student mentoring and economic literacy. She has been an active member of Rotary for over 32 years, the National Association of Women Business Owners for 25 years and currently serves on the board of Culture All in Des Moines. In her spare time Armstrong is an avid West Virginia Mountaineer sports fan and enjoys traveling the world fulfilling bucket lists.