Around WakeTech
Wake Tech Welcomes New Small Business Center Director
RALEIGH, N.C. (April 29, 2015) - Wake Technical Community College welcomes Theresa Peaden as Director of the Wake Tech Small Business Center. Peaden is the first woman to hold the position of Director in the center’s 30-year history at Wake Tech. Her responsibilities include providing small business owners and potential entrepreneurs with information they need for starting or expanding a small business. She conducts confidential, one-on-one counseling sessions, along with organizing various free seminars and workshops throughout the community.
Peaden has been involved in economic development in North Carolina for more than 21 years. A product of the North Carolina Community College System herself, Peaden earned an A.A.S. Degree in Administrative Office Technology from Edgecombe Community College. She later transferred to Barton College, where she earned a B.S. in Business/Psychology and graduated magna cum laude. She began her professional life at Edgecombe Community College in career planning and placement and cooperative education, and became director of their Small Business Center. She has served as a community development specialist, and as an assistant director at a small business technology center, where she consulted with solo entrepreneurs and firms with hundreds of employees. She helped North Carolina businesses from the mountains to the coast devastated by hurricanes with SBA disaster loans. As a director in continuing education, she has been in charge of allied health programs, emergency services, fire and rescue training, computer training, and occupational extension skilled trades programs. She has also administered customized training programs to match corporate needs, with the goal of supporting job growth, advancing technology, and enhancing productivity.
