James Aardappel assumed the position as Director of the U.S. Commercial Service office in Little Rock on October 20, 2014. In this role, James serves the state of Arkansas as the U. S. Government’s premier export promotion agency managing the Little Rock Commercial Service office.
He oversees the day-to-day operations of the U.S. Commercial Service’s clients in Arkansas and works closely with U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide to help businesses develop or fine-tune their global growth strategies. Through this work, James and his organization helps to facilitate export sales annually through trade counseling, international business matchmaking, market intelligence and commercial diplomacy. James also plays a key role in helping U.S. businesses increase exports, expand into new markets and compete globally. In this capacity, he plans and conducts strategic outreach to public and private sector organizations and stakeholders within the state, enhancing awareness of exporting and inward investment as economic development tools.
Prior to joining the U.S. Commercial Service, he was the Deputy District Director at the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Little Rock office from 2013 through 2014. In this position, he helped implement the SBA’s outreach and loan guarantee programs in Arkansas, helping small and medium-sized enterprises. This was accomplished through increased access to capital, government contracts and entrepreneurial education for U.S. - based small businesses. James was also a Senior Business Specialist with BusinessUSA (a special initiative of the White House), from 2010 through 2013, helping small and medium U.S. businesses connect to all the business facing programs of the U.S. Government. These programs were identified and a website was created to hold the information about them, so U.S. businesses could easily have access to the program information.
In the private sector, prior to his Federal Government service, James was the Export Sales Manager and Exports Department head at a medium sized manufacturer from 2005 through 2009. Also, he spent more than 26 years in the electronics industry with multiple roles (Quality Engineering, Supplier Development, International Customer Support, Business Reengineering, and International Sales. In addition, he lived/worked in Japan and Australia.
James has a strong understanding of exporting and the inter-agency/ intergovernmental processes; and routinely provides counseling to businesses, state and local officials and economic development organizations on federal economic development programs.
James holds a Global Masters of Business Administration from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Golden Gate University.
