Gary K. Reed is the Branch Manager of the U. S. Small Business Administration’s Gulfport Branch Office. Reed is responsible for the distribution and promotion of the agency’s economic development programs and counseling services to the 12 most southern counties in Mississippi. As such, he works with resource partners, lenders, business leaders, economic and community developers, and other business associations to identify small business needs and solutions from a management and leadership standpoint.
Reed, a native of Gulfport, is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi where he received a baccalaureate degree in Business Administration with a major in marketing.
He began his career with the federal government in December of 1994 with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Administration as a Rural Development Specialist. In August of 1997, Reed joined the SBA as a Business Development Specialist. He was responsible for the coordination and participation of marketing efforts designed to promote SBA products and services designed to aid small business entrepreneurs. In this role, Reed also served as the Mississippi SBA’s Veteran Business Opportunity Specialist responsible for assisting veteran and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses; liaison to the Mississippi Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Gulfport Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) Chapter, both SBA resource partners; and Lead Technical Representative regarding IT related matters and modifying the Mississippi SBA website. He has also served as Acting Branch Manager since 2003.
Reed is a graduate of Leadership Gulf Coast; a recipient of the Gulfport Rotary Club’s Paul Harris Fellow received for his civic role in business and community development; a member of the Gulfport Business Council; and a member of the Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce.
Reed’s charities include Feed My Sheep, Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army and Rotary International. He and his wife Shelia reside in Gulfport, Mississippi.
