Aikta Marcoulier is the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) and Region VIII Administrator, based in Denver. As regional administrator she oversees delivery of the agency’s small business programs and services in South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Montana.
Prior to coming to the SBA, Marcoulier was the director of the Pikes Peak Small Business Development Center in Colorado Springs. Before joining the SBDC Aikta was the director of partnership marketing with the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). Marcoulier was also the program creator and manager of the Colorado SBDC’s Cyber: CYA program (or Cyber: Cover Your Assets program) providing education, training and one-on-one consulting to small businesses throughout Colorado.
Marcoulier is involved in the El Pomar Emerging Leaders Program and is an active board member of the Pikes Peak Workforce Development Board and vice-chair of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado. She is on the Pikes Peak Community College Business Advisory Board and is president of the Colorado Business Development Foundation. She serves on numerous committees for the Colorado Springs Business Journal, served as co-chair for the Census 2020 Business Committee and is on the technology and capacity committees for the Colorado SBDC Network. Additionally, she is a member of ROAR (Relationships, Opportunities, Acumen, and Readiness Committee) for the UCCS College of Business.
Marcoulier received her MBA in global management from the University of Phoenix and undergraduate degrees in both economics and psychology from the University of Iowa. She was awarded the University of Iowa Leadership Award in 2011 and was named one of the Colorado Springs Business Journal’s Rising Stars for 2013 and Women of Influence. Additionally, she earned the Colorado State Star Award in 2013 and led the Colorado Springs SBDC to earn the UCCS Deans Award, El Paso County Recognition Award, SBA Region VIII Award for Innovation and Excellence (2014 and 2020) and the Pikes Peak Arts Council Arts Advocacy Award. As Region VIII Administrator, Marcoulier oversees SBA’s operations throughout its district offices located in Denver, CO.; Helena, MT.; Fargo, ND; Sioux Falls, SD; Salt Lake City, UT; and Casper, WY. Region VIII is SBA`s most rural region in the country. It includes 27 tribal nations and covers more than 580,000 square miles of territory. Aikta Marcoulier can be reached at Aikta.Marcoulier@sba.gov.