Bill Ford, Lt. Col., USMC (Retired)
Executive Director

After graduating from the University of Oregon with BS in Anthropology, Bill served 20 years of active duty with the US Marines as a combat engineer officer.  He commanded troops at every level including an engineering company in Vietnam and an engineering battalion in Okinawa.  He served 2 tours of duty at Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington DC as an acquisition project officer executing the Carter budget and the Reagan budget.  Upon retirement he worked at White’s Electronics, Inc. in Sweet Home in marketing, new product development, engineering and finally as the Chief Operations Officer. 

He retired from White’s in 2002 and volunteers a great deal of time as the Executive Director of the Business Enterprises Center.

Barb Sloan
Program Manager

Barb Sloan brings years of expertise in leadership, project management, and process development to her work as Program Manager at the Business Enterprise Center.

During 14 years with Hewlett Packard, Barb built strong, collaborative teams and led multi-million dollar projects to successful completion.  She analyzed and modeled processes to guide new businesses, developing action plans and measuring their progress. 

Barb’s community work has included: creating and directing substance abuse and AIDS prevention programs in school systems in the US and Europe; teaching employment skills to adults new to the United States; and developing and delivering curricula in corporate, community, and classroom settings.

Throughout her career, Barb’s primary goal has been to help people attain their goals, whether in education, the community, or the corporate world.  She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Oregon State University.