Jayne Armstrong
District Director
U.S. Small Business Administration 

During Jayne Armstrong’s tenure as the district director of the SBA’s Delaware District Office, the SBA team has dramatically increased its visibility statewide through extensive marketing and outreach; expanded participation in its government contracting programs; increased counseling and training offered by the Small Business Development Center and SCORE programs; and established the Delaware Center for Women’s Entrepreneurship in partnership with the YWCA of Delaware.

She previously served as the district director of SBA’s West Virginia District Office, and as regional advocate of the SBA’s Office of Advocacy, where she coordinated public policy at the federal and state levels and organized the 1995 White House Conference on Small Business. In 1996, she represented the SBA in Russia during the first formal exchange between U.S. and Russian entrepreneurs.

Prior to her SBA career, Armstrong worked in the advertising, high-tech economic development and higher education development fields in North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia. A native of Pittsburgh, she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees West Virginia University (WVU), where she served as student body president. 

In 2001, Armstrong and WVU officials established the Jayne Armstrong Women’s Leadership Program in WVU’s Eberly College of Arts & Sciences. The endowment supports an annual lecture series exposing women student leaders to successful women business owners.

She was recently honored by the YWCA of Delaware with its Women of Power, Style and Brilliance Award, recognizing her commitment to the YWCA’s mission to eliminate racism and empower women. She also was recognized by the Delaware Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) with its 2004 and 2003 Bridge Builder Awards, and the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) with its Excellence in Communications Award. She was honored by Girls Inc. of Delaware as its Volunteer of the Year in 2007. She was previously honored by The State Journal as one of “The 55 Best Things About West Virginia.”

Armstrong has been active in a wide variety of non-profits and business organizations throughout her career. She currently serves on the boards of Girls, Inc., the Caesar Rodney Rotary Club, WVU’s National Recruiting Network, WVU’s Delaware Alumni Chapter, the national visiting committee of WVU’s Center for Women’s Studies, Delaware Tech’s Entrepreneurial Advisory Consortium and the advisory committee of Wilmington College’s Business Division. She was previously appointed to the Delaware Commission for Women by Governor Ruth Ann Minner. She is also a founding member of the National Association of Women Business Owners’ (NAWBO) Delaware Chapter and is active in the Forum for Executive Women, Wilmington Women in Business and the Women’s Business Network, among numerous business organizations.