Kalispell Regional Small Business Development Center
Counties Served: Flathead, Lake, Lincoln
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Staff:
Rob Driscoll, SBDC Regional Director
406.609.9496 | rdriscoll@fvcc.edu
Rob joined the Flathead Valley Community College Small Business Development Center to continue his 25+ year consulting career in assisting businesses from start-up to expansion. Rob specializes in working with all levels of organizations on improving the performance of organizational cultures, sales, and service. He is a California Life Credentialed Secondary Educator and holds training certifications in business skills, with a focus on sales, service, leadership, and coaching.
Rob’s career has focused on the agricultural, medical service, manufacturing, financial services, non-profit, food service, education, retail, and package goods industries. Rob has an undergraduate degree from Occidental College and a graduate degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. As a former performance management consultant, public speaker, facilitator, and executive coach, Rob’s leadership career span years in organizational and personal productivity. Rob has personally been a general and limited partner and sole proprietor of five small businesses in food, recreational, and animal services.
Jason Nitschke, Zero to Five Senior Child Care Business Advisor
406.402.2455 | JasonN@ZerotoFive.org
Jason joins Zero to Five Montana as a Senior Child Care Business Advisor after eight years in economic development as Vice President with the Great Falls Development Authority (GFDA) and Regional Director of the Great Falls area Small Business Development Center (SBDC). He will be delivering educational opportunities and one-on-one consultation support to entrepreneurs and communities starting, growing, and expanding childcare and early education solutions.
Since 2014, he has advised and trained nearly 4000 entrepreneurs and business professionals, helped start over 100 businesses, supported 2800 jobs, and helped in attracting nearly $75M in capital investment into area businesses. He was the 2022 recipient of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Boots to Business Instructor of the Year, a national award recognizing the top five presenters of the SBA’s Introduction to Entrepreneurship curriculum for active-duty military and veterans. In 2018, he was named the Montana State SBDC Star honoring the top 1% of business advisors in the U.S.
Prior to joining the economic development community, Jason owned two businesses and spent 16 years as a print and broadcast journalist. He is an award-winning broadcaster, native Montanan, and is a proud daughter-dad. Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Montana and a master’s degree in Communication from Hawaii Pacific University-Honolulu.
He is a certified business advisor, Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP), and certified Profit Mastery and PeerSpectives facilitator.
