TAMPA, FL – The Florida SBDC at University of South Florida’s Muma College of Business hosted the 2019 Business Awards Celebration Luncheon, a National Small Business Week event, at The Westshore Grand Hotel on May 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
The Florida SBDC at USF announced the following award winners:
Florida SBDC at USF Performance Awards
- Performance Excellence of the Year – Bill Burnham
- Rising Star of the Year – Kyle King
- Ambassador of the Year – Stacey Dadd
- Volunteer of the Year – Jerry Joyce
- Student Project of the Year – Grace Prosthetic Fabrication, Inc. (University of Tampa student team)
- Outstanding Resource Partner of the Year – Hillsborough County
- Game Changer of the Year – Hillsborough County Economic Development
Florida SBDC at USF Business Awards
- Minority Owned Small Business Person of the Year – Miguel Cordova, Cordova Transport
- Woman Owned Small Business Person of the Year – Jacqueline Darna, NoMo Bands
- Small Business Person of the Year – Mark Ramnauth, Secura Property Management LLC
- Florida PTAC at USF Business Person of the Year – Stacie Miller, Sencommunications, Inc.
- Undergrad Student Project of the Year – Crown Shredding, Inc. (Warner University student team)
“We believe in celebrating small businesses and everything they do for our local state and national economy,” Regional Director, Eileen Rodriguez, said. “Every week is Small Business Week and we are proud to recognize the courageous women and men who risk everything to make our communities stronger.”
The Florida SBDC at USF Performance Awards winners advance to the State level awards for the Florida SBDC Network. Those state winners will be announced in Orlando on June 24, 2019 at the Florida SBDC Network’s state conference.
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) joined the Florida SBDC at USF, in celebration of National Small Business Week, to recognize U.S. SBA Florida award winners. Those businesses included Florida SBDC at USF client, Hayes Fountain, chief executive officer of Widescope Consulting and Contracting Services, located in Largo. He won the 2019 U.S. SBA Veteran-Owned Small Business Person of the Year for the South Florida District, along with Widescope COO Donald Williams.
Local event sponsors include Port Tampa Bay, The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship, First Citizens Bank, Moffitt Cancer Center, and BankUnited. National Small Business Week sponsors include Visa, Aweber, Chase, Spectrum Business, Spectrum Reach and Square.
The Florida SBDC at USF assists existing and emerging businesses in the 10-county Tampa Bay region, through no-cost confidential business consulting, information, and low-cost training. Learn more about the available services for businesses at SBDCTampaBay.com.
About the Florida SBDC Network:
For over forty years, the Florida SBDC Network, the state’s principal provider of business assistance [Fl. Stat. 288.001], has nourished a statewide partnership between higher education and economic development to provide existing and emerging small and medium-sized business owners with management and knowledge resources that enable overall growth, increased profitability, and economic prosperity for Florida’s economy. Since 2011, Florida SBDCs have provided 624,331 hours of professional business consulting to 58,975 client businesses, resulting in 281,831 jobs impacted; $36.7 billion in sales generated; $2.7 billion in government contracts acquired; $1.6 billion in capital accessed; and 4,520 new businesses started. A statewide network of over 40 offices, the Florida SBDC is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Defense Logistics Agency, State of Florida and other private and public partners. The Florida SBDC Network, headquartered at the University of West Florida, is nationally accredited by the Association of SBDCs and is a 2016 recipient of the President’s E Award for Export Service. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for individuals with limited English proficiency. For more information, please visit www.FloridaSBDC.org.
