2020-2021 Kentucky SBDC
Advisory Board Members

Robert Coffey
Small Business Administration (SBA)
District Director, Louisville, KY

Ross Patten, Chairperson
Economic Development Project Manager
City of Covington KY

Anne Wingrove
President
Completely Kentucky Inc.

Chris Cribbs, MA

Sherita Miller, MPA
Minority Business Enterprise Liaison
Lexington Fayette Urban County Government

Aleta Botts
Executive Director
Kentucky Center for Agriculture and Rural Development

Hon. Joshua D. Howard
HOWARD LAW FIRM, PLC

Joshua Ball
Joshua joined Shaping Our Appalachian Region in August 2017 as Associate Executive Director. Born in the southern West Virginia and raised in Martin County in eastern Kentucky, Joshua has extensive experience in higher education, workforce development and community and economic development. Prior to coming to SOAR, Joshua served as Director of Strategic Communications at Big Sandy Community and Technical College. Working under the direction of the President/CEO, he was responsible for the college’s public relations and marketing efforts, web services, grants/sponsored projects, institutional advancement, and the Big Sandy College Educational Foundation, Inc. In 2010, he became the Founding Director of the Eastern Kentucky Distance Learning Initiative which later evolved into Kentucky Teleworks (currently Teleworks USA).
He also served as Director of Public Relations and Marketing at Pikeville Medical Center, as well as Managing Editor of its newspaper, the Medical Leader. Joshua led the team that developed and was awarded a $3.5 million Appalachian Regional Commission POWER grant for the Eastern Kentucky Coal County Transformation program (known as Digital Careers Now), a consortium of industry-led innovation hubs being housed on campuses of Big Sandy Community and Technical College, Hazard Community and Technical College and Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Morehead State University. Joshua is also a graduate of the Leadership Kentucky program (2010) and was named Young Professional of the Year by the Young Professionals of Eastern Kentucky in (2011). He has won numerous awards for his writing and photography by the Kentucky Press Association, West Virginia Press Association and the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations. Joshua resides in Johnson County with his wife, Tammy, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, who serves as a Division Chair and Professor of Human Services at Big Sandy Community and Technical College and their Airedale, Ellie Mae.
