The Swain Center for Business and Economic Services has been given an expanded job description. University of North Carolina Wilmington has designated its Swain Center as the provider of all professional development and continuing education programs that serve the university community, officials said Friday.

Founded at UNCW in 1981 with a focus on economics research and forecasting, the center broadened its services several years ago to offer programs for segments of the business community.

“Over the past six or seven years, our primary programs have been in project management, business certification for certain professions and continuing education for CPAs and other business specialties,” center director William Sackley said. “We also have custom-designed programs for specific companies or industries.

“We now have a new set of customers: all the other deans on campus and the external markets they serve,” Sackley added. “We need to educate those deans about our capabilities. We want to say, ‘Bring us your ideas, and we’ll organize them into programs.’ With the help of our advisory board, we are increasing our marketing efforts to raise awareness of the Swain Center and its ability to fulfill the demand for programs in this region.”

Sackley’s said his goal was to increase the center’s offerings and visibility so it becomes the region’s source for professional courses, whether for credit (continuing education) or for knowledge and skills expansion (professional development). He said Wilmington area companies are used to thinking of N.C. State University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School as the source for such programs. He’d like them to consider the Swain Center instead.

“They could save considerable time by getting those programs here,” Sackley said.

The center is well positioned for its greater responsibilities, said center program director Barbara Beihner.

“We have excellent resources,” she said. “Not only do we have the faculty of the Cameron Business School, we now can draw on the expertise of the entire UNCW faculty, as well as members of our Cameron Executive Network.”

The network consists of several hundred retired and semi-retired executives from a wide variety of fields who volunteer their time to help students in the Cameron Business School.

To prepare for its expanded mission, the center has assembled an advisory board, chaired by Wilmington businessman Chad Paul.

The board’s membership includes commercial property developer David Swain, who, with his wife, Diane, gave a $1 million gift to the Cameron School of Business in 2009.

“The advisory board will look at program topics for the future,” Biehner said. “Those might include such subjects as finance for non-financial managers, negotiating skills and teamwork development. We’re also going to offer a Summer Business Institute for undergraduates in non-business majors to give them a business perspective on their future career. Every degree needs business skills.”