Director, Colorado Springs SBDCAikta Marcoulier joined the SBDC team as the director of the Colorado Springs center in May 2012. Prior to the SBDC, she was the director of partnership marketing with the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). In that role, Marcoulier managed a team which provided all aspects of sponsorship and account management. Marcoulier first began her work within the Colorado Springs community with the Native American Sports Council, a community-based organization of the United State Olympics Committee, where she received the experience of acquiring grants and local support to meet broader goals of the organization. She is currently a committee member for the Regional Business Alliances' Entrepreneurial Sector Committee and Better Business Bureau’s Women in Business Committee. Aikta is actively involved in the El Pomar Emerging Leaders Program and Rising Professionals.Past memberships include board membership of the Southern Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce, Women to Women Mentoring and the Executive Leadership Committee for the Leukemia Lymphoma Man/Women of the Year Gala.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. Additionally, Aikta earned the Colorado State Star Award in 2013 and lead the Colorado Springs SBDC to earn the UCCS Deans Award, El Paso County Recognition Award, and SBA Region VIII Award for Innovation and Excellence.