Community Navigator Pilot Program - Meet the Spokes

Ryan Silvestre is a Senior Business Consultant at the New Jersey Small Business Development Center (NJSBDC) based out of Rutgers University, under a specialty program that serves businesses state-wide. His primary goal is to assist entrepreneurs to gain greater access to capital.

Mr. Silvestre has almost 20 years of corporate finance experience covering a broad range of transaction types in different industries, including but not limited to, debt / equity raises, recapitalizations, and valuation modeling. He has worked on several middle-market merger & acquisition and leveraged buyout deals. In the past 13 years with the SBDC, he has helped hundreds of small businesses raise over $50MM in working capital, equipment, start-up, and commercial real estate loans using both conventional and SBA products.

Prior to joining the SBDC, Mr. Silvestre was an Investment Banker and Business Development Officer with a boutique commercial finance firm owned by Morgan Stanley on Wall Street. He was responsible for establishing new national relationships, using their AR Facilities, ABL, and equity services. He also worked closely with senior C-level executives in his firm to create analytical research reports and contribute to the development of the marketing plan for the company.

Outside of the SBDC, Mr. Silvestre currently owns and operates his own businesses, allowing him to gain additional perspective to economic climates, as an entrepreneur himself.

During his college years and after his graduation, he worked with a small business broker where he was responsible for debt and equity placement with a focus on real estate and working capital loans. He also provided basic forensic accounting services to help develop greater efficiencies in the operations of small businesses allowing them to become more bankable. Lastly, he was also responsible for training and managing new sales hires.