WASHINGTON – SBA Administrator Linda McMahon has named three new members for a three-year term to the Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs.

The Committee serves as an independent source of advice and policy recommendations to the SBA Administrator, the Associate Administrator of the Office of Veterans Business Development, Congress, the President and other U.S. policy makers under Section 203 of the Veterans Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Act of 1999. The Committee was established in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

The new members of the advisory board include:

Charles Lynn Lowder is the president of Lowder Counsulting, based in Aurora, Illinois. A former general counsel for Mail Boxes, Etc, he also served as chief operating officer for Colt Firearms and Everest LLC. Lowder is a founder and chief executive officer of 1 Vet At A Time, a 501c3 (pending) organization advocating veteran business ownership. He served as an enlisted Marine and later as an officer, commanding a special operations team in Vietnam. Lowder also served as a team leader with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company (Special Operations) in South Vietnam where he was awarded the Silver Star Medal for valor, the Bronze Star Medal with combat “v” and the Purple Heart.

Elizabeth O’Brien is the director of the Military Spouse Program at Hiring Our Heroes, is an initiative of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. A U.S. Army Veteran living in Springfield, Virginia, O'Brien advocates for meaningful employment opportunities for the more than one million members of the military spouse community. She oversees the Military Spouse Program's hiring events and the Military Spouse Employment Advisory Council, comprised of national companies committed to hiring military spouses and creating best practices in military spouse employment.

Jim O’Farrell is the president & chief operating officer of Advanced Management Strategies Group, Inc., a service-disabled-veteran-owned small business in Dumfries, Virginia, founded in 2008. O’Farrell is directly involved in leading AMSG, a government contractor providing program management, logistics and technology services to government and private sector customers. He has also held leadership positions with KPMG Consulting and Booz Allen Hamilton. Before becoming a federal contractor, O’Farrell served in the U.S. Navy as a Supply Corps Officer. O’Farrell has been a member of the SBA Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs since 2014.

The Veterans Advisory Committees meet quarterly in Washington, D.C, and are open to the public. The Interagency Task Force on Veterans Small Business Development and the Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs committee meetings will be held March 7 and 8, at SBA headquarters, 409 3rd Street, SW, Washington, D.C., 20416.

The Committees’ annual reports and past meeting minutes can be viewed at https://www.sba.gov/offices/headquarters/ovbd/resources/14397.

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 and is a Cabinet-level agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses, and recover from disasters. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, the SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. To learn more about SBA, visit www.sba.gov.