Margie Beard
Margie Beard has over 25 years experience advising, instructing, and working with entrepreneurs and small and mid-size companies in a broad range of industries. For the past six years, Margie has provided business consulting and training services through her private practice, primarily for the Temple SBDC. Her specialties include commercializing technology with a focus on licensing and strategic partnering; identifying and sorting through complex legal issues; conducting due diligence; and developing strategic plans. Margie also conducts due diligence on funding applicants for the Ben Franklin Technology Partners and is an adjunct professor at area colleges where she teaches business law, business management, finance, and marketing.
Prior to starting her own business, Margie served as Vice President in Mellon Bank’s Middle Market Lending Dept. in Philadelphia where she structured multi-million dollar credit facilities, negotiated lead and participating bank positions, managed a $100,000,000 portfolio of borrowing accounts, and advised companies on a wide range of business issues. Additionally, she managed Mellon Bank’s Middle Market Lending Dept. in Delaware where she successfully facilitated the transition of a problem account portfolio into a profitable portfolio. As a result of her professional expertise and proven track record, she was retained by management to participate in the bank’s successful restructuring efforts. She was also recognized for significantly reducing credit exposure to high-risk accounts, receiving Mellon Bank’s coveted East Coast Credit Warrior Award.
Prior to joining Mellon Bank, Margie launched her lending career at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. There she managed a $50,000,000 portfolio of small business accounts primarily engaged in international trade. She was also responsible for approving small business loans generated by bank branches.
Margie got her first grounding in business issues and negotiation working as a legal assistant at area law firms, including Blank Rome, before attending college. Areas of focus included business, real estate, tax and patent law.
In addition to her work experience, Margie served on the Business Advisory Team at the University City Science Center providing business counseling to small business incubator tenants. She also participated in the Science Center’s marketing workshops and taught marketing classes for Partners for Small Business Development. She also served as Education Committee Co-Chair for the Delaware Chamber of Commerce as well as Vice President for a local chapter of Self Help for the Hard of Hearing. Additionally, she served as judge for various business plan competitions and conducted workshops for International MBA students at Temple’s Fox School of Business and Management. She also supervised IMBA students on their consulting projects for Israeli technology company entrepreneurs and accompanied them to Israel to meet with the entrepreneurs and their project counterparts from Ben Gurion University.
Margie currently represents the Temple SBDC on Team Bucks, a consortium of organizations serving businesses in Bucks County. She is also a member of the Philadelphia and New Jersey Entrepreneur’s Forums.
Margie has an MBA in Marketing Management from Yale School of Management and a BA in Economics from Stanford University. Margie’s studies at Stanford included semesters abroad at Stanford-in-England and Stanford-in-France.
In her free time, Margie enjoys ballroom dancing.
Contact Information: mbeard@temple.edu