Jorge Silva Puras

Jorge Silva Puras (born on August 23, 1966 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) served as the 5th Chief of Staff to the Governor of Puerto Rico, and is currently the Distinguished Lecturer on Business and Entrepreneurship at Hostos Community College in the City University of New York (CUNY).^[1] He is also a Principal in the consulting firm Interaktiva.

U.S. Small Business Administration

Previous to his current positions, he served as the Regional Administrator ^[2] at the United States Small Business Administration for Region II which includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. He was appointed to that position by President Barack Obama, and served the Administration from May 2010 until January 2013, when he joined the Hostos faculty. As SBA Regional Administrator, Mr. Silva Puras publicly advocated in favor of small businesses in multiple public forums, such as SAP's SME Summit in New York City,^[3] and the New York Senate Unidad Latina conference. He was also interviewed on several television, radio and newsprint media outlets on topics of small business growth and entrepreneurship.

Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

Mr. Silva Puras has served in several senior government positions at the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, including Chief of Staff to former Governor of Puerto Rico Aníbal Acevedo Vilá.^[4] from June 2006 until December 2008. Previous to his appointment as Chief of Staff, he served as Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce, and as Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO).

PRIDCO Controversy

During his tenure at PRIDCO, he was heavily criticized by the public employee unions in Puerto RIco for his decision to modernize and restructure the agency, which resulted in a reduction of the agency's workforce by over 40%. The headcount reduction, while controversial, proved effective to make the Government agency self-sufficient, and not dependent of the Commonwealth's General Fund.

Board Memberships

As Secretary of Economic Development, he served as Chairman of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, the Puerto Rico Commerce & Trade Company, the Roosevelt Roads Redevelopment Authority,^[5] and the Puerto Rico Land Administration, among several others. He also served 4 years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico.^[6] He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Somos El Futuro, a New York non-profit serving the Hispanic population.^[7]

As part of his responsibilities as Puerto Rico's Chief of Staff, he led the efforts that resulted in the Governor's Economic Development Plan (EDP), announced in the Fall of 2006, which focused on 6 economic development strategies, including infrastructure investments via public private partnerships (PPPs).^[8]^[9]

Private Sector Experience

Previous to his Government positions he worked at The Procter & Gamble Company, Citigroup, and the San Juan law firm of O'Neill & Borges.

Education

Mr. Silva Puras is a 1988 graduate of Yale University, received a Juris Doctor with Honors from the University of Puerto Rico, and a MBA in International Management from the University of Texas at Austin and the Copenhagen Business School.

References

External links

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