Mark Skinner
President & CEO
Aaron Hagar
Vice President for Innovation Finance
Mualla Adyemir
Research Associate
Susie Byrd
SSTI’s BBR Project Director
Jerry Coughter
Program Director
Conor Gowder
Policy Analyst
Laura Lacy Graham
Policy Analyst
Megan Krombach
Bookkeeper
Michele Hujber
Senior Writer/Editor
Casey Nemecek
Program Director
Sobia Saied
Policy Analyst
Mark Skinner is president & CEO of SSTI, stepping into the role in 2025 with Dan Berglund's retirement. Working with SSTI since 1998, Mark Skinner focuses on both the overall strategic direction of SSTI and the field of regional innovation, also known as technology-based economic development (TBED). Previously, he served as SSTI's executive vice president and founded and ran the Regional Innovation Acceleration Network (RIAN), a federally funded seven-year project that worked to make public-private investments in innovation-based growth more efficient while achieving greater impact and to establish a national network of existing and emerging nonprofit Venture Development Organizations.
Aaron Hagar is vice president for innovation finance. He brings twenty years of experience spanning biomedical research, health care, public policy, and technology-based economic development. He has experience building partnerships, creating innovative solutions, shaping public policy, and developing data-driven strategies. Hagar worked for 13 years to support entrepreneurs and startups in Wisconsin. He served for over eight years as vice president of entrepreneurship and innovation at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, where he led a team focused on increasing the funding, training, and ecosystem resources for startup and emerging growth companies. Hagar is instrumental in expanding SSTI’s community of practice, new product development, and educational and consulting services. He helps innovation finance practices establish best practices and ensures they have the most updated research, information, and benchmarks for their organization.
Mualla Adyemir is a research associate for SSTI.
Susie Byrd played a critical leadership role for more than two decades in a community effort to rebuild her hometown of El Paso as an economic and cultural powerhouse. In her recent role with the University of Texas at El Paso, Byrd wrote and oversaw the development of successful grant proposals including EDA’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge and partnerships that resulted in almost $100 million in community investment. She oversaw the implementation and execution of the grant projects and partnerships, creating an economic development enterprise focused on the growth of small and medium-sized manufacturers in West Texas. As the district director for Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, Byrd was responsible for guiding the Congresswoman’s local strategic initiatives, including her economic development agenda to grow aerospace, defense, and advanced manufacturing in the region. Susie also served two terms as a city council representative and two terms as an El Paso Independent School District Trustee as part of a political coalition focused on transforming an economy built on selling El Paso as a low-wage community into an innovation economy that values the young, vibrant, bilingual, and bicultural workforce as the key to the community’s success.
Jerry Coughter is a program director for SSTI’s project with the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to build a Community of Practice focused on EDA’s important technology-based economic development (TBED) investment priority area. Coughter began his TBED career at Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology where he served as industry director for biotechnology and executive director of Governor Mark Warner’s Biotechnology Initiative. He later served as assistant vice president for regional economic development at George Mason University and as the founding executive director of the Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte. He holds both a B.S. (Clemson University) an MS (Virginia Commonwealth University) in microbiology & immunology, and an MBA from Shenandoah University. As an avid Rotarian, Coughter volunteers with numerous nonprofits with a particular focus on access to healthcare and clean water.
Conor Gowder is a policy analyst for SSTI. Gowder is responsible for developing SSTI’s Useful Stats article series, performing various research-based projects, and supporting SSTI’s Tech-Based Economic Development Community of Practice. He holds a BA and MPP from the University of California, Irvine School of Social Ecology.
Laura Lacy Graham is a senior policy analyst for SSTI. Lacy has extensive experience with program coordination, research, editorial production, and office management. She was the research support coordinator for UNL's multi-national ANDRILL (ANtarctic geologic DRILLing) Program, a community involvement specialist with Ecology & Environment's EPA Region 7 START and Brownfields Programs, and, before joining RIAN, the office manager for Northwest Geophysics. Lacy holds a BA in History from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with minors in political science and art history.
Megan Krombach is a bookkeeper for SSTI. She has 13 years of experience in bookkeeping and finance. The has a BA in Psychology from The Ohio State University and a MS in Forensic Psychology from Tiffin University.
Michele Hujber is senior writer/editor for SSTI, researching and writing for the SSTI Digest and other publications. She began her writing career at Rutgers University, where she wrote about environmental and biological sciences and university outreach to industry and the community. She established her public relations business in 2008, handling communications for organizations including the New Jersey Business Incubation Network, UIDP, and upSkill, a federally funded initiative administered by the New Jersey Institute of Technology to help unemployed mid-career technology workers. She also wrote regularly for the publications Industry-Sponsored Research Management and Technology Transfer Tactics. Hujber received her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Dayton and Master of Communication and Information Studies from Rutgers University.
Casey Nemecek is a program director for SSTI’s Technology-based Economic Development (TBED) Community of Practice, which is supported by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). Nemecek’s previous work focused on program design and building partnerships to align education and industry. Most recently, she supported workforce development efforts in Indiana by promoting and implementing registered youth apprenticeship programs. Casey holds a BA from Vassar College and an MPA from Indiana University O’Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs.
Sobia Saied is responsible for SSTI’s Funding Supplement. This exclusive weekly newsletter provides SSTI member organizations with information about hundreds of federal and foundation tech-based economic development and R&D funding opportunities each year. Saied holds a BS in political science from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a master’s degree in public administration from Pennsylvania State University.