Adam Cote, an attorney at Pierce Atwood, LLP and an officer in the Maine Army National Guard, has been appointed to serve as a member of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) National Advisory Council (NAC).

“We’re delighted to welcome Adam Cote as a member of the National Advisory Council,” said Administrator Steven C. Preston.  “I’m sure that he will be a strong, independent voice for small business, someone we can rely on to inform and advise us on issues that are important to entrepreneurs across America.  I personally will appreciate the opportunity to draw on Adams’s expertise,” Preston added.   

The NAC is a non-partisan group tasked to advise the SBA and Congress on small business issues.  The council includes small business owners and other community leaders who volunteer their time over the course of a two-year appointment to provide the SBA with diverse and expert advice, ideas and opinions on small business issues and SBA programs nationwide.  Cote is one of only three Mainers on the NAC.

Preston has asked each council member to be keenly aware of the challenges facing the SBA.  These include:

• Increasing small business access to capital, federal contracts and  technical assistance,
• Expanding the availability of opportunities offered by SBA programs to as many small businesses as possible,
• Improving the SBA’s programs to ensure that they remain relevant to all small businesses, 
• Reducing the regulatory and paperwork burden on small businesses
• Serving as the voice of small businesses to the federal government and as the eyes and ears of the small business community.

“I am honored to have been asked to serve on the National Advisory Council and to provide a voice for the many small business people across Maine.”  Cote said.  “As an attorney who often advises small businesses and as a member of the Maine National Guard who has seen the affect recent natural disasters and military deployments have had on them, I hope to assist the SBA in fostering more responsive reforms.  Small businesses are the backbone of our economy,” added Cote.

Cote’s legal practice has primarily focused on real estate and energy related matters.  As a member of the Maine Army National Guard, he served in Iraq in 2004 and 2005 and previously served in Bosnia Herzegovina in 1997 and 1998.  He is a member of the Board of Advisers for the Greater Portland Salvation Army, the Maine Bar Association’s Community and Public Relations Committee, the Maine Real Estate Developer’s Association Legislative Affairs Committee and the Colby College Alumni Council.  Cote grew up in Sanford, graduating from Sanford High School, Colby College and the University of Maine School of Law.  He is the son of Roland Cote from Sanford and Kitty Chadbourne from Cumberland.  He currently resides in Portland, with his wife, Paulina and daughters, Ana and Audrey.

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