The Florida SBDC Network, the state’s principal provider of business assistance, along with the Florida APEX Accelerator recently announced the recipients of its annual staff awards.
The awards, which were presented at the network’s annual conference August 20 in Ponte Vedra, are the highest recognition bestowed by the network to staff members, partners, and volunteers.   
 
“It’s a privilege to honor this year’s award winners for their remarkable commitment to advancing small businesses across Florida,” said Greg Britton, state director of the Florida SBDC Network. “These individuals work tirelessly to make a difference in the lives of small business owners and their communities. We congratulate this year’s winners and are proud to highlight their inspiring contributions.” 
 
The Florida SBDC Region of the Year Award was presented to the Florida SBDC at University of South Florida for their outstanding work to help small businesses in South Florida. In 2023, the region delivered more than 21,000 hours of assistance to help more than 3,400 clients. As a result, they helped client businesses secure more than $207 million in government contracts, start 179 new businesses, secure more than $60 million in capital and supported more than 4,400 jobs. 
 
The Florida State Star Award was presented to Yolanda Goodloe from the Florida APEX Accelerator at Pinellas County Economic Development. The Florida State Star award is the highest accolade achievable by employees, recognizing extraordinary performers who have made strong contributions to their state network. This year’s award was presented to Goodloe for her contributions to the Florida APEX and SBDC network and her unparalleled dedication, consistently exceeding expectations.
 
The Florida Alan Cowart Pioneer Award was presented to the Florida SBDC at the University of Central Florida for their Reverse Trade Show. The Reverse Trade Show is the marquee event hosted by the UCF team every year and offers an opportunity for active APEX clients, second-stage SBDC clients in government, and small businesses not yet connected to the SBDC to network with government agencies and prime contractors.
 
The Florida Ambassador of the Year Award was presented to Jesus Padilla from the Florida SBDC at Florida International University for his efforts in increasing client engagement, exceeding goals, and his work with the Miami-Dade Community Navigator program. 
 
The State Office Distinguished Service Award was presented to Ann Dziadon, Executive Assistant, for her outstanding involvement and above and beyond work to ensure brand consistency and provide the highest level of service to SBDC clients and staff. 
 
The Florida Rising Star Award was presented to Donna Jarrett from the Florida SBDC at Florida Gulf Coast University. This award, which recognizes employees under the age of 35 with less than five years of service, was given to Donna for her outstanding contributions to the region's annual women's business conference, Women Excelle. 
 
The Florida Team Spirit Award was presented to Steve South from the Florida APEX Accelerator at the University of Central Florida. Steve was honored for his contributions and leadership during the transition from Florida PTAC to Florida APEX Accelerator. 
 
The network presented two Florida Student Project of the Year Awards, which recognize student team projects from an SBDC region that created the most significant experiential learning opportunity for the student(s) while providing SBDC client value. The undergraduate student project winner was the Florida SBDC at UWF / Taste of Pensacola. The graduate student project winner was the Florida SBDC at USF / Dinner Done.  
 
The Florida Resource Partner of the Year Award was presented to FloridaCommerce for their advocacy of Florida’s small businesses and continued support of the Florida SBDC Network.
 
The Florida Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Mark Szaks, owner of Trust Environmental. Szaks was selected for his outstanding outreach, partnership, and commitment to the Florida SBDC at UNF region and small business community.
 
The network also recognized staff in three categories of lifetime achievement awards. These awards were presented to staff for their outstanding capital access, new business starts, and government contracting impact during their tenure with the network:

Capital Access Lifetime Achievement Awardees:

• Angel Rentas, Florida SBDC at FAU - $100M +
• Roberto Castellon, Florida SBDC at FIU - $100M +
• Dr. Len Eichler, Florida SBDC at UWF - $50M +
• Selma Canas, Florida SBDC at USF - $50 +

 
Laura Subel Government Contracting Lifetime Achievement Awardees:

• Karen Krymski, Florida APEX at USF - $250M +
• Yolanda Goodloe, Florida APEX at Pinellas County Economic Development - $100M +
• Mark Odell, Florida APEX at FGCU - $50M +
• Janette Blanco, Florida SBDC at Hillsborough County - $50M +

 
New Business Starts Lifetime Achievement Awardees: 

• Frederic Bonneau, Florida SBDC at FIU - 300 +
• Elizabeth Goldbach, Florida SBDC at FGCU - 75 +
• Christa Wilson, Florida SBDC at UWF - 75 +
• Jodi Henson, Florida SBDC at UNF - 75 +

 
Regional and Service Year Awards are also presented to exemplary employees for making significant contributions to their respective SBDC regions and for achieving service year milestones. Service Year Awardees:

• Frederic Bonneau, Florida SBDC at FIU - 20 Years
• Marge Cirillo, Florida SBDC at UNF - 15 Years 

 
The Florida SBDC Network wishes to thank its 2024 event sponsors and partners: Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Florida Power & Light, Lake Michigan Credit Union, Valley Bank, Suncoast Credit Union, Embrace Resorts, Veterans Florida, CareerSource Florida, Florida Business Exchange, Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship, Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida Economic Development Council, Square, South State Bank, FloridaMakes, Florida Trend, Prospera, St. Johns Chamber of Commerce, North Florida Economic Development Partnership, Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer, and Thryv Foundation.  

Florida SBDC Network State Office (Pensacola, Fla.) – The Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network, the state’s principal provider of small business assistance, and FloridaMakes have renewed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to support Florida’s small manufacturers. 

The Florida SBDC Network and FloridaMakes have nourished a longstanding partnership. Through this MOU, the two will continue their partnership to provide greater access to and awareness of Florida SBDC Network and FloridaMakes training and resources for small manufacturers in Florida. The agreement will foster greater communication, cross-referrals, understanding of each other’s services, and collaboration on training and programs for small manufacturers across the state. 
 
“FloridaMakes’ long commitment to strengthen and advance Florida’s economy by improving the productivity and technological performance of small manufacturers compliments our mission of ensuring our state’s small businesses have the expertise and resources to succeed,” said Greg Britton, state director of the Florida SBDC Network. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with FloridaMakes to help more of our state’s small manufacturers grow and create more good paying jobs for Florida’s families.”
 
“The vast majority of Florida’s manufacturers are small businesses," said Kevin Carr, CEO of FloridaMakes. “The Florida SBDC Network is often the ‘first responder’ in helping those firms overcome the many business challenges they face. The partnership with FloridaMakes complements those efforts by extending that expertise to the production floor and throughout their supply chains”
 
Through this agreement, both parties will work together in the spirit of cooperation and open communication with the primary goal of meeting the needs of the small manufacturing business community in Florida. This partnership will help facilitate programs, events, and mutual partnerships to serve qualified small manufacturing businesses and provide access to the network of Florida Small Business Development Centers and FloridaMakes manufacturing assistance programs.
 
FloridaMakes is a statewide, industry-led, public-private partnership operated by an alliance of Florida's regional manufacturers associations with the sole mission of strengthening and advancing Florida’s economy by improving the competitiveness, productivity and technological performance of its manufacturing sector, with an emphasis on small and medium-sized firms. 
 
Established in 1976, the Florida SBDC Network is the state’s principal provider of business assistance. The network provides no-cost consulting, training, and research to help aspiring and existing small businesses launch, grow and thrive. As part of its service offering, the network employs more than 225 consultants and staff members, many of whom are previous business owners, to help businesses in all aspects of business - from business planning to exit planning. 
 
The MOU was signed by Greg Britton, state director of the Florida SBDC Network, and Kevin Carr, CEO of FloridaMakes, in Orlando during a FloridaMakes Board of Directors meeting.