Diane Lantz joined the Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) at the University of North Carolina Wilmington as its newest business counselor.

Lantz began her role with the SBTDC in late March, according to the SBTDC. As a business counselor, she focuses on helping small businesses increase profits and jobs through SBTDC services such as obtaining capital, evaluating financial performance and providing business and strategy development assistance.

Lantz recently relocated to Wilmington from upstate New York. She has a "passion for helping small business and the transition to SBTDC was a logical choice," officials said in the release.

Prior to her current position, she was assistant vice president of business and professional banking at M&T and executive director of REDEC/RRC, a regional not-for-profit economic development organization that focused on small business financing.

Lantz has a bachelor's degree in marketing from Penn State University. She is "excited to assist small-and-medium-sized businesses in the Wilmington area and to make Wilmington her home with her husband Gregg, who is a small business owner," officials said.