SBA Director Phillips announces retirement

Bill Phillips, district director of the New Hampshire office of the US Small Business Administration for more than 25 years, will be stepping down from the post early next year.

Phillips announced his retirement plans Thursday.

He joined the agency in 1981 after a 20-year banking career and co-founder of founded Benchmark Industries, now of Goffstown.

During his tenure at the SBA, Phillips and his staff earned credit for saving hundreds of businesses and thousands of jobs during the bank failures of the early 1990s with the New England Lending and Recovery Project. He also made the SBA a key player in the state’s economic development efforts.

“Bill Phillips has been a leader in New Hampshire’s small-business community for over a quarter of a century. He has been a strong advocate for New Hampshire’s entrepreneurs and has used his extensive experience to raise awareness of the many challenges they face,” said Charles E. Summers Jr., the SBA’s regional administrator for New England. “In my time as the regional administrator I’ve come to rely on Bill’s sage advice and wise counsel. His presence will be missed region wide.”

Phillips, who said “it’s been a great pleasure working with my staff to deliver SBA’s vital programs and services throughout New Hampshire,” added that he looks forward to continuing his other civic endeavors, including his lifelong involvement with the Boy Scouts of America, Daniel Webster Council. – JEFF FEINGOLD