Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs Inc. (ACE) is pleased to announce that Antonio Barrios has been hired as a commercial loan officer. Barrios is bilingual, in English and Spanish, and brings more than 25 years of professional experience to the role. Working out of ACE’s downtown Atlanta office, he will be responsible for fostering trusted relationships by working one-on-one with entrepreneurs in the community, offering capital, coaching and connections, and driving ACE’s Hispanic Strategy in Metro Atlanta. Barrios will also focus on providing access to commercial loans of $50,000 and greater.
 
Barrios comes to ACE having worked most recently as the area director for the University of Georgia (UGA) Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Gwinnett, and as a business consultant for the UGA SBDC at Kennesaw State University. He saw firsthand how ACE helped many of his clients start and grow their businesses, and he was impressed.

“I was really drawn to the mission of the organization,” Barrios said. “I believe that ACE’s method of combining access to capital with business advisory services is the most effective way to support entrepreneurship.” Barrios is eager to help small-business owners understand that getting a loan can be a long process, and he plans to offer ACE resources and tools to help educate them on both their finances and what they are bringing to the table.
 
ACE is focused on assisting underserved small-business owners of color, female and low-income entrepreneurs, and others who lack equitable access to small-business financing across Metro Atlanta and rural North Georgia.
 
 “We’re looking forward to offering Antonio’s strong financial and business advising expertise to our clients,” said Ray Pennie, president of business development of ACE. “We had a great working relationship prior to hiring him, so his transition to our team has been seamless.”
 
Barrios’s experience in the financial industry is extensive and includes financial analysis, business consulting and business management. He worked for five years as an SBA/Commercial Loan Officer for a community bank in Atlanta, and also developed expertise as an economic and financial analyst for PriceWaterhouseCoopers and The Central Bank of Venezuela in the areas of financial planning, market trends and economic analysis.
 
Barrios grew up in Venezuela, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Andres Bello Catholic University, and he holds an MBA in finance from Kennesaw University. He emigrated to the United States in 2001.