Meet the DEBCO Team
Charles Blackmon
Executive Director
charles.blackmon@debco.org
Charles has more than 35 years of experience in financial services and management. He began his career in the general financial and banking management field. Since 1982 he has devoted his efforts to helping and funding small and minority businesses.
Charles served as executive director of the Atlanta Minority Business Development Center and director of the City of Savannah MLK Revolving Loan Fund. In August 1999 he was asked to organize, establish and manage a revolving loan fund for DeKalb County, and DEBCO was formed.
Since its inception DEBCO has funded RLF loans totaling $2,005,000, which in turn generated $15,351,982 in additional capital investment and assisted in creating 150 new jobs in DeKalb County. In 2003 DEBCO secured the SBA Micro Loan program, which has funded 25 loans for $562,000. In January 2006 DEBCO contracted with DeKalb County to manage the DeKalb Micro Enterprise Institute (DMI), a training program that helps develop the entrepreneurial skills of small and micro business owners. DMI has trained more than 125 existing and prospective business owners.
Charles contributes his expertise and assistance to a number of organizations, including the South DeKalb Business Association, DeKalb County Government’s weekly cable show, the South DeKalb Business Incubator, SBA and SBDC. He serves as speaker, host, presenter, mentor, and active participant.
He was instrumental in promoting and facilitating a “one-stop” resource center for DeKalb businesses consisting of agencies and organizations that promote economic and small business development. They include DEBCO, the Decatur Office of the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the DeKalb Micro Enterprise Institute (DMI) and the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce.
In April 2006 the Small Business Administration recognized Charles as its Georgia Financial Services Champion of the Year. An Atlanta native, he is a graduate of Hampton University and Georgia State University. He has a daughter, Nicole.
Carolyn Braswell-KeenerLoan Servicing Specialist
ckeener@debco.org
Carolyn has been a loan servicing specialist at DEBCO for eight years. She has 22 years of executive management experience in business office management, clerical and technical support. Before joining DEBCO she was executive assistant to the president and CEO of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce for five years.
She was also a customer service coordinator and customer service associate for the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, Charleston, S.C., and an accounting practitioner for James J. Strauss in Charleston. She served in a number of capacities for the U.S. Department of the Army, Berlin, West Germany, 1989-1992.
Carolyn attended El Paso Community College, El Paso, Texas. She has completed numerous training and correspondence courses through subsidiary colleges of City Colleges of Chicago and Maryland, Berlin, Germany.
She and her husband, U.S. Army veteran Bobby M. Keener, Sr., live in Ellenwood, Georgia. They have two sons and three grandchildren. Carolyn is a member of New Beginning Full Gospel Baptist Church and is an avid reader and bowler.
Roderick R.WallaceDirector of DeKalb MicroEnterprise Institute
rodw-dmi@debco.org
Rod Wallace has been director of the DeKalb County Microenterprise Alliance since its inception in 2003. He is also executive director of the DeKalb Microenterprise Institute’s (DMI) 12-week business training program. He develops and implements programs on business training and development, technical assistance, access to capital, and advisory services for small businesses in DeKalb County. He manages the various research and evaluation projects of DMA, and prepares and recommends funding opportunities.
Rod’s corporate financial experience includes positions with Bank of America (vice president-technology division), the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (senior project manager), Citibank (assistant vice president), and the Wall Street firms Paine Webber (senior financial analyst) and Prudential Bache Securities (financial analyst). He has also served as board chair for the Georgia Microenterprise Network.
He received his bachelor of science degree, with concentrations in business management and finance, in 1984 from Southern Illinois University. He completed his masters in business administration, finance/technology management, at the University of Phoenix, Atlanta campus, in 2005.
Active in community collaborative development initiatives, he has served as budget and special projects manager at the Atlanta University Center, where his responsibilities included preparing the annual operating budget, implementing financial reporting, and initiating strategic planning processes. One of his major accomplishments during that time was negotiating the contract for the Atlanta Beat, the women’s professional soccer team, to use the campus football stadium at Morris Brown College (an Atlanta University Center member institution). This was a much-needed revenue opportunity for the college and a boost to the fan base for the team.
During his tenure with the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, Rod was the program management analyst for the ACOG community relations and development team. He helped secure funding for communities and led the effort to implement business development partnerships for local and state municipalities before the games. He also coordinated volunteer training and scheduling during game times for the Atlanta University Center venue.
Rod currently serves on the board of the Georgia Microenterprise Network and as vice chairman of the organization’s Financial Development steering committee. He is also the director of business development for the Big Bethel AME Church Federal Credit Union in Atlanta.