Natalie Guess Email and Phone Number

Responsible for developing and implementing business development and technology transfer strategies to increase the economic impact of research, enhance sustainability of innovation programs and advance the university’s mission. The work involves coordination with the University of Southern Mississippi Research Foundation (USMRF), the Office for Vice President of Research, other divisions of The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), federal, state, academic, industry, and not-for-profits partners in promotion of USM’s emerging technologies, and knowledge-based economic development.

▪ Partners closely with 42 area businesses to jointly pursue business opportunities related to unmanned marine and aerial systems, managing an annual budget and implementing strategic marketing initiatives. ▪ Directs collaboration with the National Oceans and Applications Research Center (NOARC) to commercialize “space to seafloor environmental technologies” within Mississippi in response to the 2010 oil spill.

▪ Provides strategic planning and implementation of public-facing and back-office technology for Mississippi’s SBA-funded blue-economy business cluster, including CRM systems, websites, and event registration systems.▪ Collaborates with 6 business to identify technology needs and design tailored suites of technology solutions, providing onboarding, training, and ongoing support as needed.

▪ Oversees a team of 185 administering multiple laws, initiatives, and acts governing the management of marine resources statewide, including the Mississippi Coastal Wetlands Protection Act, Mississippi Seafood Laws, and other state and federal mandates.▪ Enacts rules and regulations within our jurisdiction and indirectly selects the director of the agency, proposing three candidates to the governor.▪ Appointed by the governor of Mississippi for a four -year term to represent the area on nonprofit environmental organizations.

▪ Collaborates with eight team members to provide a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) for incident management in NASA’s Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure Integration Program (I3P), performing troubleshooting and customer support.▪ Handles 45 inbound calls and emails daily, providing one-call resolution to customer inquiries and concerns.▪ Maintains a 98% customer satisfaction level through demonstration of highly effective query response and problem resolution strategies.

▪ Manages multi-year US Small Business Administration Regional Innovative Cluster contract, responsible for organizing geospatial businesses, organizations, events and relationships and managing an annual budget of $525K.▪ Maintains and nurtures 68 member relationships, consulting closely with small businesses to identify needs, define goals, and provide ongoing guidance and support.▪ Creates and implements fundraising opportunities, including Social Suppers which successfully raised more than $20K for five businesses.▪ Responsible for planning 50 networking events, webinars and workshops annually, ranging in size from 6 to 150 attendees and participants, including the Annual EIGS meeting event.▪ Manages organizational online brand presence, maintaining event calendar and creating email campaigns to foster ongoing engagement, connections, and dialogue within the organization.▪ Hosts geospatial webinars and meetings to address environmental and small business issues and objectives. ▪ Implemented and maintains insightly customer relationship manager (CRM), supporting ongoing tracking of member business contact and details to identify trends and opportunities for growth and increased outreach.

▪ Planned and managed all aspects of a global conference for the ocean meteorological community hosted on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, overseeing a budget of $500K and coordinating preparations for over 300 national and international attendees.▪ Negotiated with vendors to ensure catering, facilities, lodging, and transportation exceeded client expectations.▪ Performed proactive troubleshooting, managing and resolving potential concerns and issues to facilitate positive outcomes and minimize event disruptions.

▪ Managed customer experience department team of 6, creating and executing policies and procedure for customer experience team and our clients. ▪ Responsible for sales and marketing efforts, oversaw all creative, content, and advertising development for online marketing campaigns, and managed annual marketing budget of $80,000.▪ Developed client education materials and documentation, online marketing and best business practices to be presented through online resources and presentations. ▪ Drove client engagement and collaborated closely to create online marketing campaigns, resolve concerns and issues, and ensure positive client experiences. ▪ Planned and executed travel for trade shows and conventions, maximizing outreach efforts and developing a broad network of industry and client contacts.

▪ Grew the Aveda salon network throughout geographic territory (San Antonio, Laredo, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen), honoring Aveda brand guidelines and ensuring alignment while identifying and onboarding 28% growth in new salons that fit with Aveda’s brand and the existing network.▪ Created and executed compelling solution presentations to clients that demonstrate solid business acumen and a strong understanding of product assortment and marketing programs.▪ Grew the business of existing Aveda salon customers by providing business solutions and enrolling the team in Aveda education offerings and coaching teams on best practices to drive product sell-through and sales results.▪ Used sales tools such as Salesforce and other proprietary sales tools to understand account base and prioritize activities, traveling within assigned territory including sales meetings and regional events.