Anthony Singleton with his UC San Diego colleagues who attended the luncheon to support his special recognition.

UC San Diego Chief Small Business Officer Named Minority Small Business Champion of the Year

Anthony Singleton, UC San Diego’s chief small business officer, has been named 2017 Small Business Administration (SBA) Minority Small Business Champion of the Year by the U.S. SBA’s San Diego District Office. The Minority Small Business Champion of the Year Award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to minority-owned small businesses and has gone above and beyond to ensure that they succeed. Nominated by the North San Diego County Business Development Center (SBDC), Singleton was recognized for his outreach efforts and community service to small businesses within the San Diego and Imperial Counties.

“Anthony is an outstanding professional and leader,” said the North San Diego County SBDC in its announcement of the award. “For years, he has been among the most visible proponents of small business and community engagement within the state of California.”

Singleton manages UC San Diego’s Integrated Procure-to-Pay Solutions Social Responsibility team, which includes IPPS’s organizational sustainability efforts, as well as the Small Business Development Office (SBDO). At IPPS, he is responsible for developing, promoting, delivering and managing policies, procedures and programs that uphold UC San Diego’s commitment to diversity, healthy and sustainable practices and greater San Diego community involvement and presence in business. Singleton leads the Small Business Development Office in hosting annual supplier diversity expos, business conferences and workshops that increase networking and performance opportunities for small diverse businesses.

Additionally, in partnership with the SBDC, he speaks at monthly panels that educate small business owners throughout Southern California about how to do business with UC San Diego. He was also selected to be an inaugural UC San Diego Leaders for Equity Advancement and Diversity (LEAD) fellow, providing leadership and ensuring diversity and excellence across campus.

“It’s all about relationships,” said Singleton in an interview with Small Business Advisory Radio. “The strategic long-term value that small businesses provide is a win-win for the university and our continued commitment to ensuring engagement with local small businesses.”

Singleton has also been very active in promoting small businesses engagement within the University of California system. He has served on various boards and councils and helped rewrite policy to provide higher standards for systemwide engagement with small businesses, and to develop improved methods of tracking compliance and results.

In addition to his work at UC San Diego and the University of California, Singleton has volunteered countless hours to improve conditions for and advance the interests of small businesses in San Diego County. He serves as a North San Diego Small Business Development Center advisory board member and is vice president of San Diego’s Public Agency Consortium (PAC), a coalition of public agencies that works together to share practices and to host, support and create events to maintain continued small business support. He is also active in the southeastern San Diego community, of which he is a longtime resident, working to reverse the decline in that area’s small business activity.

“I would like to increase earning potentials within the southern region of San Diego due to the low number of diverse small business owners,” he explained. “Given my demonstrated passion for local small businesses, I feel that I must encourage and empower individuals within my community to consider entrepreneurship.”

Singleton was honored at the SBA and North San Diego County SBDC Annual Awards Luncheon during National Small Business Week. He also received a certificate of special recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives for supporting the North San Diego SBDC Program and the region’s small businesses.