Liz Gray '00, '09G

Liz Gray joined the NH SBDC as State Director in July of 2018. Each year, 3,000 small businesses in approximately 200 New Hampshire communities benefit from the advising and educational programs offered by the NH SBDC.  SBDC’s team of certified business advisors delivers highly individualized, confidential advising at no charge to enterprises across New Hampshire, from the towns along the Connecticut River to the Seacoast to the North Country and every point in between. Since 1984 the NH SBDC has advised or trained more than 106,000 New Hampshire entrepreneurs, helping them to start over 2,100 businesses. 

Liz leads a team of 18 dedicated professionals that serve the Granite State and work in collaboration with federal, state, and local government agencies, business sector partners and clients. As an outreach program of the University of New Hampshire’s Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, NH SBDC is a principal/significant/critical driver of the University’s Embrace New Hampshire pillar and mission to support the state’s business community.

Prior to joining the NH SBDC, Liz served as director of entrepreneurship at the N.H. Business Finance Authority. She established Live Free and Start, an initiative to make New Hampshire an even better place for innovative companies to be able to start, grow and succeed. She held the position of economic development business services manager at the N.H. Department of Resources and Economic Development and has extensive experience within the political community of New Hampshire. Additionally, she worked for more than 10 years in various capacities in the offices of governors Shaheen, Lynch and Hassan, and as a legislative aide in the N.H. State Senate. 

Liz serves on the UNH Manchester Advisory Board, and on the boards of directors of the UNH Alumni Association, and the NH Tech Alliance, Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). Gray also co-chairs the UNH Peter T. Paul College’s Business in Practice Advisory Board.

Liz has a Master’s in Public Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Conservation and International Affairs from the University of New Hampshire.