Jorge Silva Puras is the Regional Administrator [1] at the United States Small Business Administration for Region II which includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. He was appointed to his current position on May 3, 2010. He is located in New York City, and oversees District Offices in Newark, New York City, Buffalo, Syracuse and San Juan, and also oversees branch offices in Elmira, Albany, Long Island and St. Croix. He is the former President of Interaktiva LLC, a business development consulting firm based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Mr. Silva Puras was named Chief of Staff of the Commownealth of Puerto Rico on June, 2006 by former Governor of Puerto Rico Aníbal Acevedo Vilá.[2]
Previous to his appointment as Chief of Staff, he served as Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Economic Development and Commerce, and as Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO). As Secretary of Economic Development, he served as Chairman of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, the Puerto Rico Commerce & Trade Company, the Roosevelt Roads Redevelopment Authority,[3] and the Puerto Rico Land Administration, among several others. He also served 4 years as a member of the Board of Directors of the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico.[4]
As part of his responsibilities he led the efforts that resulted in the Governor's Economic Development Plan, announced in the Fall of 2006. The EDP includes infrastructure investment via public private partnerships.[5] [6]
Previous to his Government positions he worked at The Procter & Gamble Company, Citigroup, and the San Juan law firm of O'Neill & Borges.
Mr. Silva Puras is a 1988 graduate of Yale University, received a Juris Doctor with Honors from the University of Puerto Rico, and a MBA in International Management from the University of Texas at Austin and the Copenhagen Business School.