Ron Clabo

Ron is passionate about small businesses and the role they play in economic development.

He is an e-commerce professional and entrepreneur who enjoys helping others. He delights in the process of creating something from nothing.

He takes great pleasure in products made by small businesses, including makers, designers, and artisans.

Ron is working to build a sustainability-orientated company that positively impacts communities. Through GiftOasis LLC, Ron performs business, marketing, and software development consulting for clients. He would like to launch an online marketplace that makes it easy to find and purchase products made by small businesses in North Carolina.

He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and earned an MBA in General Management & Sustainability from the University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School, Chapel Hill. He grew up in Alaska and earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Ron is as comfortable developing software as he is marketing products and analyzing business models. He is typically ranked in the top 1% of software professionals on Stack Overflow. But entrepreneurship is what really gets him excited. He likes to experiment and try new things.

His biggest surprise in college was falling in love with pottery making. He spent many late nights in the ceramics studio and thoroughly enjoyed the beginning and advanced ceramics courses. His creative side has led him to try many creative arts over the years including photography, woodworking, ceramics, metal metalsmithing, and winemaking.

Ron is an e-commerce pioneer and has been active in the field since 1995.