Arlington, VA (November 13, 2017) – KANAVA International announced today that it had added staff in specially designated economic development zones throughout the United States, a move aimed at supporting local employment and further bolstering the international development firm’s project management resources. The new staff, added over the last year, reflect the growing portfolio of the women-owned small business, whose CEO is also a service-disabled veteran.

“By localizing our services in areas of the country well beyond the Beltway, we are determined to extend the enormous job-creation potential of the international development industry,” said KANAVA CEO Susan Puska. The Washington, DC area-based firm had earlier established a HUBZone office in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, one of hundreds of government-designated economic development zones throughout the country.

By shifting its focus beyond geographic compliance to the residents of historically underutilized business zones throughout the country to support its international projects – including through IT, accounting, and strategic communications services -– KANAVA hopes to spur greater interest and capacity in international development in communities not otherwise exposed to this vibrant sector. That, said Puska, is “a reflection of the firm’s core values, which include spurring economic growth at home as well as abroad.”

Although KANAVA will be refocusing its Michigan office, the firm will be retaining staff there, and Puska, who hails from the area, will continue contributing to local community programs and economic development opportunities in the region.

KANAVA International, which began operations in 2013, has grown from a two-person start-up to a trusted implementing partner of the US Agency for International Development, with projects in Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. The firm’s signature Impact Strengthening Development (ISD) tool has been used in West Africa, Afghanistan, and Cambodia to build the management capacity of local organizations working to address the world’s most pressing health and socioeconomic challenges.

For more information, please visit kanavainternational.com.