The Colorado Springs Small Business Development Center is looking for a new director for the second time this year.
Marcella Hurley, who became director in May, left the post this week.
The the development center, a nonprofit organization that provides free counseling and education to small and medium-size businesses in El Paso and Teller counties, is hosted by the College of Business at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Venkat Reddy, dean of the College of Business, would not say Friday whether Hurley left on her own or was forced out.
“I think it just didn’t work out,” Reddy said. “Her strengths probably didn’t match up with what the SBDC was doing here.”
Reddy said a search committee will be formed within the next two weeks, with the goal of hiring a replacement by early spring, but that his immediate focus is to keep the SBDC up and running. Shawna Markiewicz, who previously served as assistant to the director, has been named as interim director.
“We want to make sure our community, which has come to depend on the SBDC, doesn’t suffer,” Reddy said.
Hurley had replaced Matt Barrett, who served in the job for five years.
Before coming to Colorado Springs, Hurley was regional director of a Small Business Development Center in South Dakota.
She had also served as senior planner for the University of Nebraska Medical Center and as a budget analyst and acting chief financial officer for the University of South Dakota School of Medicine.
Hurley could not immediately be reached for comment.
