After a national search, Rodrick McSherry has been selected as the new Associate Vice President for Innovation and Economic Development which includes leadership of UTSA’s Institute for Economic Development (IED). This position reports directly to the Office of the Vice President for Research, Economic Development, and Knowledge Enterprise (VPREDKE).
McSherry’s background includes academic, government and corporate experience. He comes from New Mexico State University (NMSU) where he served as Associate Provost, and previously as Global Initiative Director where he focused on agriculture and agro-technology projects and grant development in the U.S. and Mexico. He also lectured on foreign affairs and U.S. international economic development. In a prior career, he served as a Senior Foreign Service Officer and worked in many countries including Afghanistan, where he coordinated a $1 billion portfolio of economic development projects funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. A polyglot, he speaks six languages: Spanish, English, French, Greek, Thai and Russian. He has a Masters of International Agricultural Economics and is currently working on a Ph.D. in Economic Development.
McSherry will lead the activities of nine economic development centers and programs, overseeing the Office of Commercialization and Innovation and managing a staff of over 140. His directives include expanding the reach of current programs, building new relationships with stakeholders, and developing new funding sources, both from the public and the private sectors. McSherry begins September 3, 2019.
Established in 1979, UTSA’s Institute for Economic Development hosts nine centers and a variety of programs that facilitate economic, community, and business development at the local, regional, and national levels. The nine centers are the UTSA South-West Texas Border Small Business Development Center Network; the UTSA Small Business Development Center (SBDC); the UTSA SBDC International Trade Center; the UTSA SBDC Technology Commercialization Center; the SBDC National Information Clearinghouse; the UTSA SBDC Center for Government Contracting; the UTSA Procurement Technical Assistance Center; the Center for Community and Business Research; the Southwest Trade Adjustment Assistance Center; and the Minority Business Development Center. Programs serve a range of entrepreneurs, from those who are just starting a business to experienced business owners looking for new markets to communities seeking to improve their economic health. Over the past four decades, the IED has forged strong relationships and partnerships with federal agencies such as the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA); the Economic Development Administration (EDA), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce; the Minority Business Development Agency, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce; the U.S. Agency for International Development (US AID); the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA); the U.S. Department of Commerce; and the U.S. Department of State.
In a record-breaking year, the IED served 43,320 existing and aspiring entrepreneurs, generating a total of $2.9 billion in direct economic impact in 2018. Of those who received advising, training and business research assistance, over 1,000 businesses were started or experienced significant growth, resulting in the creation or retention of close to 20,000 jobs. Additionally, these businesses generated $291 million in new financing and $35 million in new tax revenue, with new sales, contracts and exports valued at $2.6 billion dollars.
“These strategic leadership changes will help the UTSA Institute for Economic Development grow its programs and its reach, replicating their successful models and building upon their 40 years of service to San Antonio and the South Texas community,” said Dr. Bernard Arulanandam, Interim Vice President for Research, Economic Development, and Knowledge Enterprise.
Additionally, Arulanandam thanks Al Salgado for stepping in and serving as Interim Executive Director of the Institute for Economic Development since November 2018. Effectively immediately, Salgado has been promoted to Assistant Vice President Small Business and Community Engagement, and will report to McSherry in this new role. Salgado will provide leadership, oversight and coordination of small business and community development programs under the IED, aligning its outreach with UTSA’s strategic plan and mission.
With over 25 years of experience, Salgado is uniquely positioned to lead these efforts particularly with the expansion of the Downtown Campus. In his prior role, he promoted the State Department’s Small Business Network of the Americas, which replicated UTSA’s successful university-based SBDC model and created new opportunities for collaboration in other areas in over 20 countries. He was appointed by former Governor Rick Perry to the Texas Small Business Advisory Council and is an eight-year member of the Association of Small Business Development Centers (America’s SBDC) and served a two-year term as board chair. He has a Master of Business Administration from Our Lady of the Lake University.
Learn more about the UTSA’s Institute for Economic Development (IED)
