Archive for category: Consultants

Jenée Skipper, SHRM-CP

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Florida SBDC at Pinellas County Economic Development

Specialty: Startup, Human Resources, Workforce Assistance, Government Contracting, Cybersecurity

Jenée Skipper has been a dedicated member of the Florida SBDC at Pinellas County Economic Development since October 2013. With a rich background in human resources, retail, fashion, technology consulting, and government workforce development, she brings a wealth of experience to her role. She specializes in pre-venture and startup assistance, human resources, and customer relationship management.

Skipper is a Florida Certified Workforce Professional, SHRM-Certified Professional. Her professional journey includes significant contributions as a job developer, recruiter, and human resources representative, focusing on staff training, development, project management, and business processes.

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David Vargas

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Florida SBDC at USF, Tampa

Specialty: Restaurant Business, Retail

David Vargas is a dedicated consultant determined to help his clients in any capacity. He has over 10 years’ experience in the restaurant and retail industry, eventually leading operations. He is keen to help businesses in these vital industries, as well as take and apply that experience in other sectors. Bringing with him his passion to help at the individual and organizational level.

Vargas specializes in organizational planning, performance management, operational planning, vendor relationships, strategic planning, customer service, and marketing. In addition to being able to share these insights, he has a great foundational knowledge of the service industry regarding its trends, and the different needs of both its stakeholders and shareholders.

Vargas graduated from Polk State College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Supervision and Management.

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Jennifer Biles, CBCP

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Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP), Crowdfund BETTER Certified Advisor, Florida SBDC at USF, Tampa

Specialties: Business Continuation/Disaster Assistance, Start-Up, Business & Strategic Plan Assistance

Jennifer Biles is a multifaceted professional with over 25 years of dedicated experience in guiding entrepreneurs to strategically work on their businesses rather than in them. With a firm belief in the vital role of small businesses in driving the economy, Biles stays at the forefront of cutting-edge business tactics to empower her clients.

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Randy Hayes

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Florida SBDC at USF, Polk County

Specialty: Startup, Employee Recruitment/Retention

Randy Hayes has more than 15 years of business consulting experience with businesses of various sizes from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. His work with these companies ranged from guiding them through their financial services needs as a banker to ensuring that they met their monetary goals. As recruiter/talent acquisition partner and business owner, Hayes worked with businesses to help them identify, recruit, and ultimately hire top talent to join their companies and addressed turnover, existing market share growth, new market development, and/or succession planning goals. His experience in the financial services and recruiting industries allows him to provide business consulting to entrepreneurs with a balanced understanding of starting and growing their business, by focusing on both the product and/or service they offer and the human capital needed to make it happen. Hayes has a bachelor’s degree from Palm Beach State College and a master’s in human resource management and services from Nova Southeastern University. He is also a Certified Professional with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM-CP).

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Barry Haynes

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Florida SBDC at Hillsborough County

Specialty: Operations, Technology

Barry Haynes started his career in engineering and has extensive experience in computer integrated manufacturing and manufacturing automation. Haynes became a serial entrepreneur in the 80s and has started and sold four multi-million-dollar companies. He brings to the Florida SBDC at Hillsborough County more than 36 years of experience as a business owner and in-depth knowledge of operations, business automation, sales, customer service, marketing, and corporate development. He also brings with him more than 30 years of senior management and company-building experience, as well as in-depth knowledge of web-based technology.

A lifelong coach and fan of the game, Haynes has coached youth baseball teams for more than 10 years and served on many youth association boards. He holds an associate in instrumentation engineering from Tennessee Technical Institute, a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering with a minor in economics from Washington University and did his MBA work in manufacturing at Southern Illinois University.

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Shawn M. Ferguson

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Florida SBDC at Hillsborough County

Specialty: Start-Up, Technology

Shawn M. Ferguson specializes in technology and finance. He is passionate about helping start-up businesses. With more than 25 years of experience in technology and education, Ferguson is familiar with devising successful strategies for software development teams, enhancing the educational experience, and providing professional services to help businesses succeed. His expertise lies in making the entrepreneur resourceful and developing leading-edge, actionable recommendations for his clients. He is tenacious about helping entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life.

Ferguson is an Entrepreneurial Mindset Certified Facilitator and a certified Profit Mastery Facilitator who holds an associate degree in computer programming, a Magna Cum Laude bachelor’s degree in management information systems, and an MBA from The Ohio State University.

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Retta Parsons

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Florida SBDC at Hillsborough County

Specialty: Start-up, Bookkeeping

Retta Parsons brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in business management and public administration to her role as a business consultant. She previously served as CEO of Shiawassee United Way. In that position, she provided leadership to ensure the construction of a $26 million county medical care facility. She also led the change process and alliance establishment that resulted in the implementation of United Way 2-1-1 in Shiawassee County. Parsons also served as a training director for Girl Scouts, where each year she managed the delivery of approximately 124 trainings for more than 700 attendees.

Parsons enjoys being active in the community. Past roles include chairperson for the State of Michigan, Department of Health & Human Services, Shiawassee County, board; chairperson of the Shiawassee Human Services Council; and ambassador for the Shiawassee Regional Chamber of Commerce.

She earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Western Michigan University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Resources Management from Spring Arbor College. She is a certified Child Care Facility Inspector, Instructor of Trainers, and Bridges Out of Poverty Trainer.

In her spare time, Parsons enjoys bike riding with her husband, Roger, and spoiling her children and granddaughter.

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Greg Manning

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Florida SBDC at USF, Polk County

Specialty: Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP-BCA), Business/Strategic Planning, Startup

Greg Manning opened his first retail location in Lakeland, Fla., more than 30 years ago. While cash flow planning and analysis, and inventory productivity were constants in his businesses, he experienced virtually all aspects of starting, growing, and closing a small business over the course of 30 years. He negotiated dozens of leases and designed and implemented various marketing plans.

With more than 250 employees, Manning dealt with various human resources issues. In addition to his operating career, Manning was also involved in the financing side of business as the president of the board of directors at Crown Managers Acceptance Corporation. The company had a facility of $150 million dollars to lend via term loans and working capital loans, providing a lifeline of funding to a multitude of retail customers.

Manning earned a bachelor’s degrees in finance and economics from the University of Florida. He is also a certified Associate Business Continuity Professional (ABCP) and a certified Economic Development Finance Professional with emphasis on Business Credit Analysis (EDFP-BCA).

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Yanina Rosario

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Associate Director, NASBITE Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP), Associate Business Continuity Professional (ABCP), Florida SBDC at USF, Tampa

Specialty: Women/Minority/Veteran Certification

Yanina Rosario is an associate director and business consultant for the Florida SBDC at USF. Rosario provides business owners with one-on-one expertise for optimizing business performance through marketing, strategic business planning, and business certification. She also teaches the Women/Minority/Disabled Veteran-Owned Certification seminar.

As associate director for the center, Rosario is responsible for outreach. This involves educating the community, establishing strategic partnerships and working on special projects.

Rosario’s expertise comes from more than 23 years in economic development, guiding pre-venture and well-established business owners through procurement, licensing, planning, marketing and financing. She’s helped clients secure more than $5.5 million in small business loans.

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Christine Jaros

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Florida SBDC at USF, Tampa

Specialties: Manufacturing, Retail, Startup, Digital Marketing

Christine Jaros provides business consulting in the areas of startup, business plan development, marketing and sales, e-commerce, finance, wholesaling and retailing, and business management.

Before joining the Florida SBDC at USF, Jaros owned her own apparel wholesale sales and consulting business in New York City for 14 years. She has more than 35 years of experience as a professional businesswoman.

Jaros built a global-focused career specializing in manufacturing, marketing and sales with organizations including Bidermann Industries, Liz Claiborne Inc, and Hartmarx Corp. Working with iconic brands such as Yves Saint Laurent, Liz Claiborne, Calvin Klein, Polo-Ralph Lauren and Austin Reed, Jaros grew her portfolio of skills to include international sourcing and distribution.

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The Florida SBDC at the University of South Florida is a member of the Florida SBDC Network, a statewide partnership program nationally accredited by the Association of America’s SBDCs and funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Department of Defense, State of Florida, and other private and public partners, with the University of West Florida serving as the network’s lead host institution. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for limited English proficient individuals.

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