About Me

A nationally renowned expert in minority business issues, Eric S. Bonaparte currently serves as the Assistant State Director and Metro Atlanta Director for the University of Georgias Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Eric Bonaparte first joined the UGAs SBDC in 1991 as a business consultant in the Decatur office. Over his more than 20-year career with the SBDC, Eric Bonaparte has earned a strong reputation among his clientele. Ranked in the top two percent of all consultants at the SBDC, Eric Bonaparte has spearheaded a number of initiatives designed to expand the reach of the organization and stimulate minority business growth in the area. One project Eric Bonaparte led was the SBDCs Minority Finance Program, which, over four years, has generated $66M dollars in funding to SBDC clients. Eric Bonaparte also played a lead role in the development of many worthwhile programs, including the Clark-Atlanta Small Business Development Center, the Entrepreneur Development Program, the Governors Mentor Protg Program, the South DeKalb Business Incubator, and the Latino Business Initiative. For his considerable efforts in improving the SBDC, Eric Bonaparte was honored with the Star Performer Award from the Association of Small Business Development Centers. Eric Bonaparte was only 1 of 10 individuals to be distinguished with the Star Performer Award in 1999. Eric Bonaparte also received the 2006 Walter Barnard Hill Award for Distinguished Achievement in University Public Service & Outreach. Beyond his work in the Atlanta area, Eric Bonaparte has also offered consulting services internationally. In addition to advising government officials of Trinidad and Tobago on how to stimulate economic development through business incubators, Eric Bonaparte also worked with countries like Poland, Gambia, Senegal, and Russia through the SBDC Global Exchange Program. Extensively educated, Eric Bonaparte holds multiple academic degrees. In addition to his Bachelors degree in Marketing from Rutgers University, Eric Bonaparte possesses an MBA in Management and Finance from Long Island University and a PhD in Education Leadership and Higher Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.