Herbert Austin is the District Director for the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Dallas/Fort Worth office, covering 72 counties of north, central, and east Texas. As director, Austin is responsible for the management and delivery of SBA programs and services which includes oversight of SBA resources – Small Business Development Centers and SCORE Chapters. The district office works with 400 participating lenders to provide access to capital to the small business community. The district covers 22 percent of the land area of Texas, contains 36.3 percent of the population, and has 898,000 small businesses. Austin joined the SBA in 1989 in New Jersey joining SBA, Austin worked in the private sector as Director of Exporting for companies in the United States and overseas. In addition to his extensive background in International Trade, Austin speaks fluent French and Spanish. Austin holds a B.S. in Marketing from New York University and an MBA from Pace University.