Congratulations to NWT PTAC Region Director, Rich Lyles!

Rich Lyles started his position with a clean slate, brought experience and new ideas from his previous PTAC position in Nevada and Wyoming that was much needed upon his hiring in April 2020. His deep expertise, knowledge, skills, and mission to transform people’s lives helped to address PTAC's most critical and common challenges, which ultimately are to improve the outreach for small businesses to have all the tools to seek and obtain opportunities in the complicated and competitive governmental contracting arena.

When the pandemic continued, what was thought to be short-term adaptions, it became long-term in his strategic planning with a priority of implementing reliable and professional virtual counseling and training which mandated replacing outdated equipment, technology methods and software in place to handle staff working from home or in the office and still stay on often changing regulations and rules applicable to business owners within the large territory assigned to NWT PTAC. He embraced the digital mindset and digital transformation to continue teaching on complicated governmental regulations, certifications, proposals, research, and other tasks. Overcoming the initial start-up costs to launch a bold effort required his long hours of being a good steward of state and federal funding.

As the new Director, his vision was to think big but start small by cultivating top performers as staff with energy and influence to make rapid progress and added additional security in the virtual customer experience because businesses relied on governmental services as much as any other time, perhaps in their lifetimes. PTAC provides at no charge numerous professional services to small businesses, and as the program director, he did not anchor the program in the past, but instead with a fresh mindset and an eye to the future. His ability to deliver value-driven service continues to help businesses thrive, grow, and obtain governmental contracts which has added to the Texas economic base a large amount and measurable.

He makes it a priority to build up TTU’s brand and reputation more in counties we serve and driving many miles to network with community leaders and form new partnerships and collaborations that add to TTU’s visibility. Due to his leadership and hard work, he has planted the TTU flag into areas that are not TTU’s traditional market like the western Panhandle, Big Bend and many other similar areas with successful and long-term business relationships. PTAC now has offices in Lubbock, Abilene and Wichita Falls with plans for more expansion in 2022-2023.