The FSBDCN is one of eight original SBDC pilot programs funded in 1976 by the US SBA to successfully link the state's education system to community outreach, utilizing both faculty and students to aid in the development and education of the state’s entrepreneurs and small business community. Today, the FSBDC is a statewide network of 33 centers involving seven universities and eight community colleges, with additional outreach provided at resource partner locations.

Engaging Students in "Real-World" Business Experiences

Currently, two USF College of Business students are assigned to work part-time at the SBDC at USF. Ryan Tolle has been working hard on his CBA qualifications and co-counseling clients. Heather Wiseman has been collating information from the strategic plan and developing methods to track its progress.

The SBDC at USF managed nine graduate student teams working with SBDC clients developing elaborate business plans during the fall 2004 semester. The process is a capstone project for the students graduating with MBA degrees. Through this two-semester program, the students work closely with business owners/executives and analyze real businesses. During the first semester, student teams work on marketing plans; in the second semester, they complete a financial analysis.

CBA Tom Spear of the SBDC at Indian River Community College attended and participated in the St. Lucie County Youth Leadership Development Council meeting on October 15, 2004. The meeting is held monthly and members are high school students from each of the St. Lucie County high schools plus one private school. The group is highly motivated and is working to plan a small business. Tom discussed their ideas with them and gave them some general ideas of how they might proceed. He also was invited to do a formal presentation on business plan development at the next meeting.

Susan Day, from the SBDC at FAU, managed the Boynton Beach Retail Training Program which is an after-school program for youth between the ages of 13-16, a new SBDC grant program for middle-school children from low-income areas. The program provides classroom instruction on all aspects of the retail business and rewards participants for positive behavior. The program is a $105,000 grant for the SBDC and serves young entrepreneurs. Ted Kramer, SBDC at FAU CBA has been a speaker for the group on several occasions. The Boca staff of the SBDC donated many gifts and items for children in the program as well as the charitable organization the children assist for the holidays. Susan prepared for an external audit of the program by its funding agency and worked closely with several FAU departments to fully integrate the BBRTP into the SBDC. Susan is looking at other funding opportunities to expand SBDC services to young entrepreneurs and proposals will be considered for 2005.

Partners Promote Economic Development

 During the 2004-2005 winter period, the SBDC at USF secured partnerships with South Florida Community College, Highlands County, Florida Heartland Rural Economic Development Initiatives and Heartland Workforce Alliance. They are also actively recruiting for business analysts in Manatee, Hardee and Highland Counties.

The SBDC at USF's satellite service center at Manatee Community College secured a partnership with the City of Bradenton Community Redevelopment Agency. The SBDC at MCC will provide counseling and training in targeted areas within the City of Bradenton. The partnership was announced officially in the Bradenton Herald.



Educational Programs that Inspire Creative Learning

Daniel Scott, CBA from the SBDC at USF, attended a Sandler Sales Institute course which explained innovative ways to tackle the sales process. That, in turn, offers a wealth of knowledge available for SBDC clients who employ a sales force.

The SBDC at USF is preparing a series of articles on small business topics that range from tax topics and regulations to branding. These will be available as handouts and also as feature articles for local publications.

The SBDC at FAU offered the seminar, “Learn How to Check and Protect Your Personal Credit” in the fourth quarter of 2004. It was designed to get current and potential business owners thinking about their credit and how to improve it for future loans and investments, as well as how to protect credit as a business owner. The seminar was taught and created by SBDC at FAU CBA Martin Zients.

Expertise and Strengths Enhance Community Outreach

Kim Wagner, CBA from the SBDC at USF, has developed a series of talks including recruitment of and retention of customers. She is going to be presenting at various community groups.

The public relations and media manager at the SBDC at USF serves on the board of the Public Relations Society in Tampa Bay and on the FOIA committee of the Society of Professional Journalists. Using her dial background in journalism and public relations, she gave a recent talk at the Poynter Institute on how to juggle the demands of public relations and the need for accurate, quick information by journalists.

USF at SBDC Director Irene Hurst has been appointed Capital Committee Chair for the STAR Technology Enterprise Center (an incubator) at the Young-Rainey STAR Center. In this capacity, she provides capital information to the current and potential tenants of the incubator. Along with Certified Business Analyst Jim Parrish, she has met with one tenant to help identify alternative financing opportunities. Because of her successes, she has been asked to avail herself to meet with other tenants to determine financing viability.

Opportunities for Diversity through Collaboration

L-R: Dr. Thomas Peake; Victoria Peake; Dr. Carmo D’Cruz; Michael Hennessy; Dr. Carolyn Fausnaugh; Heidi Brandow; Dr. Ken Ports; Bonnie O’Regan
 A Space Coast delegation consisting of the Technological Research and Development Authority (TRDA) Incubator Network Director, Florida/NASA Business Incubation Center Manager, Florida Tech business, engineering and psychology faculty, and the Director of the SBDC at Brevard Community College attended the United States Association for Small Business Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Conference in Indian Wells, CA near Palm Springs on Jan 12-16, 2005. Read More
In January, the SBDC at USF co-sponsored the first annual Asian Small Business Workshop in partnership with the Philippines Chamber of Commerce, Indo-US Chamber of Commerce, Suncoast Association of Chinese Americans and the Vietnamese-American Mutual Association. The event was attended by more than 200 people at the Philippines Bayanihan Cultural Center. Classes were Small Business Resources, (instructed by our Director, Irene Hurst), Fair Pay Rules (FLSA), Tax Aspects of Legal Entities for Doing Business, What’s New in Taxes for 2004-2005., Business Rules, Marketing and Visual Communications, and Media Access 101 for Small Businesses. Director Irene Hurst was also appointed the first President of the Asian American Chambers of Commerce (AACC). The purpose of the AACC is to unite the Asian business organizations in providing resources and assistance to Asian owned businesses.

Irene Hurst (center) being presented an appreciation plague for speaking at the first annual Asian Small Business Workshop
Ling Yu, SBDC at USF client
who was a panelist at the Asian
Small Business Workshop

Visibility and Awareness in the Community

Jack Burns of the SBDC at IRCC/FAU participated in a one-hour radio broadcast on WPSL 1590 AM with Don Root, Director of Economic Development for St. Lucie County, to review and wrap up the SBDC’s participation in the Disaster Recovery Center activities for Martin County, St. Lucie County, and Indian River County. Burns stressed the presence of the SBDC in all three counties and the ongoing availability of counseling by the certified business analysts. The statistics on Bridge Loan activity, Disaster Unemployment Assistance, FEMA and the SBA aired.

SBDC at USF Director Irene Hurst was one of the presenters at the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Minority Business Awards event. She presented the winner for the Non-Profit/Government category.

SBDC at USF Director Irene Hurst has also launched a small business advice column for the Maddux Business Report, targeted toward small business owners. The magazine is published monthly at www.maddux.com and covers e-business, technology and small and corporate businesses, the magazine is the largest circulated business publication in the Tampa Bay area, read by top-level management and decision makers in all types of businesses.

Support to Expand Outreach to the Community

Associate Director Eileen Rodriguez has been representing the SBDC at USF in an ongoing dialogue with the Hillsborough County Small Business Information Center (SBIC) and the Emergency Operation Center (EOC). The topic relates to preparation of a Disaster Mitigation seminar for small businesses to be held in May.

The SBDC at USF held training at the United States Coast Guard Air Station in Clearwater in an effort to expand its reach to those serving in the military. DETA counselor Rich Williams paired up with Albert Lee from the SBDC to present An Entrepreneur’s Toolkit: Business Basics. More than 20 attendees received handouts and literature on starting a business, licenses, and funding. Monthly schedules are now being sent to Coast Guard and Navy Education Services Officers (ESO’s).

The Development of Global Relations

SBDC at USF Associate Director Eileen Rodriguez has developed a series on global trade to offer small business owners ways to explore new markets for their products.


L-R: Director Fernando Trevino, Mex TEC; Jorge Solis, Merida SBDC Director; Director General Bulmaro Fuentes Lemus, Mex TEC; FSBDCN State Director Jerry Cartwright; Eileen Rodriguez, SBDC at USF Tampa; Merida TEC Director; Olivia Barrera Chavira, Mex TEC
Mexico's 183 school system of four-year technological colleges will soon boast a mirror-image of Florida's Small Business Development Center Network (FSBDCN). This has come about through an agreement between the national director of Mexico's Technological Institute System, Bulmaro Fuentes Lemus, and Jerry Cartwright, State Director of the FSBDCN. Cartwright said he is "excited that the FSBDCN was invited to continue assisting Mexico's economic development infrastructure through the many benefits that the SBDC will deliver and their educational involvement which provides a real-world laboratory for their students and faculty. This will be education and commerce working hand-in-hand to significantly expand the SBDC network of Mexico.” Read More


Knowledge Exchange for a Better Community

Daniel Scott, CBA at the SBDC at USF, serves on the Advisory Board of the Kauffman Alumni Society. The group provides consultancy by serving on advisory boards for local companies. Currently, the board is advising Ultra Clean Systems, an SBDC client that manufactures and sells cleaning equipment in the Tampa Bay region.

Recognize and Reward Excellence

 Jim Parrish, CBA at the SBDC at USF, serves on the Jaycees Business Plan Committee reviewing business plans. By sharing his expertise in reviewing dozens of business plans, the SBDC is able to reward submission of a top notch plan.

SBDC at USF's Irene Hurst and Eileen Rodriguez served as judges for the Hillsborough County High School Business Plan competition in December 2004.

The SBDC at FAU held its second annual Quality Focus Award recognition picnic for all staff members. The awards included topics such as excellence in customer service, promotion, excellence in counseling notes, excellence in building customer trust and more. The awards are chosen by peers within the SBDC staff and voted on.

Commitment to Continuous Quality Improvement Excellence

The SBDC at USF received the Quality Improvement Program Report from the State Director’s Office. The report provides several recommendations to improve SBDC operations, and share “best practices” with other members of the Network. The Director has responded to the report with an implementation plan.
















   

Opportunities for Diversity through Collaboration

A Space Coast delegation consisting of the Technological Research and Development Authority (TRDA) Incubator Network Director, Florida/NASA Business Incubation Center Manager, Florida Tech business, engineering and psychology faculty, and the Director of Brevard Community College’s Small Business Development Center attended the United States Association for Small Business Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Conference in Indian Wells, CA near Palm Springs on Jan 12-16, 2005.

The group attended a number of workshops and paper presentations on various topics, such as Technology Entrepreneurship, Small Business Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneur Support Organization Development, Entrepreneurship Education, and Entrepreneurship at Community Colleges.

"There was a wealth of information available at this conference for Entrepreneur Support Organizations such as TRDA from similar organizations around the world," commented Heidi Brandow, Director of the TRDA Incubator Network.

The packed back-to-back schedule of workshops and paper presentations included Technology Entrepreneurship and Community College Entrepreneurship. "I particularly enjoyed these two tracks, since the Florida/NASA Business Incubation Center (FNBIC) is a high tech incubator located at the BCC-Titusville campus,” stated Bonnie O’Regan, Incubator Manager.

Dr. Carolyn Fausnaugh and Dr. Ken Ports of Florida Tech conducted a workshop on "Charting Future Directions: Improving Communities’ Entrepreneurial Infrastructure" and presented a paper on "Hands Across the Parking Lot" at the conference.

Also attending the conference were Victoria Peake - Director of the Small Business Development Center at BCC and Dr. Tom Peake of the School of Psychology at Florida Tech. Entrepreneurship is an emerging topic that has generated considerable interest in clinical and organizational psychology.

Dr. Carmo D'Cruz, Associate Professor of Engineering Entrepreneurship at Florida Tech, was elected program Co-Chair of the Technology Entrepreneurship Division for the 2007 USASBE Conference to be held in Orlando in Jan 2007.

"The diverse and exemplary Space Coast delegation representing various educational and entrepreneur support institutions created a noticeable impression and impact at the conference," commented Mike Hennessey, President of the Coleman Foundation, which is the major sponsor of the USASBE Conference. "We expect to see more regional delegations at future USASBE conferences, since it takes all such entities to work together to enable entrepreneurship in local communities."

Established by the Technological Research and Development Authority (TRDA) in 1996, the FNBIC helps accelerate the success of small, technology-based businesses by providing affordable space and shared office services, thereby reducing the costs of starting and operating a small business. The Incubator is managed through a joint partnership of Florida’s TRDA and Brevard Community College. For further information on the Florida/NASA Business Incubation Center, contact Heidi Brandow or Bonnie O’Regan at (321) 267-5601.
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The Development of Global Relations

Mexico's 183 school system of four-year technological colleges will soon boast a mirror-image of Florida's Small Business Development Center Network (FSBDCN). This has come about through an agreement between the national director of Mexico's Technological Institute System, Bulmaro Fuentes Lemus, and Jerry Cartwright, State Director of the FSBDCN. Cartwright said he is "excited that the FSBDCN was invited to continue assisting Mexico's economic development infrastructure through the many benefits that the SBDC will deliver and their educational involvement which provides a real-world laboratory for their students and faculty. This will be education and commerce working hand-in-hand to significantly expand the SBDC network of Mexico.”

Fuentes had heard of the success between the FSBDCN and the SBDC created at Merida, Yucatan, and the agreement between the FSBDCN and Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. This encouraged him to invite Jerry Cartwright and Eileen Rodriguez, Associate Director of the SBDC at USF, to visit and provide information on how the Florida SBDCs accomplish their goals and objectives. The influence of the two successful international programs and the presentation convinced Fuentes that his community-based technological schools were the appropriate location for the centers, and they would help achieve his desire to give something back to the communities and regions their schools serve.

Although the Mexican programs will be funded by the schools in the beginning, Fuentes hopes that Federal and State funding will follow, particularly since his ideas were following the
US Partners in Prosperity Initiative supported by Presidents Bush and Fox. The FSBDCN is partially funded by the SBA and hosted by the University of West Florida.

UWF Provost Sandra Flake said that “UWF is very pleased to support the expansion of Florida's Small Business Development Center Network (FSBDCN) in Mexico. We believe that this agreement will help meet the challenges of economic development through partnerships and mutual support. Our parallel endeavors will provide additional educational and economic opportunities for our communities, faculties, and students."

The agreement was presented November 2004 at the national meeting of their four-year technological system. The plan is to use Florida SBDC professionals to help with curriculum development, train the trainers, and the many other functions necessary to kick the program off in 2005.
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