MARINETTE, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Marinette Campus will welcome Fred Hochberg to speak to the community.

Hochberg’s presentation is part of the Tommy G. Thompson Center for Public Leadership speaker series and will address “Small Business Growth Strategies in Rural Communities.” The event will be 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Herbert L. Williams Theatre on the UW-Green Bay, Marinette Campus. Registration for the event is open.

Hochberg is a seasoned business executive and government leader. He recently concluded eight years of service as chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, where he became the longest-serving chairman in the agency’s history and one of the highest-ranking LGBT Americans in any U.S. administration.

Previously, he was acting administrator of the Small Business Administration and dean of the Milano School. Before entering public service, Hochberg spent almost two decades leading his family’s direct marketing business, Lillian Vernon, where he oversaw a 40-fold increase in revenue.

Hochberg brings knowledge on customer focus and global business expansion. At this session, he’ll share his experience as acting administrator of the SBA in the Clinton administration, where he quadrupled lending to minority- and woman-owned businesses and rapidly improved response times for American small business owners; and prior to that, his wisdom as the long-time president and chief operating officer of the Lillian Vernon Corporation, where he led the transformation of a small, family-owned mail-order company into an international, publicly traded direct marketing corporation.

To register for the event, go to www.thompsoncenter.wisc.edu/event/small-business-growth-strategies-in-rural-communities.