FLORIDA SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER AT IRSC
TREASURE COAST BUSINESS OWNERS RECEIVE
CREDENTIALED CONSULTING FROM LOCAL SBDC
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BY ANTHONY WESTBURY
TCBusiness.com
MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER PHOTOS
Emily McHugh of the Florida Small Business Development Center at Indian River State College reviews an export marketing plan with Ricardo Amaral, executive
vice president of Aluma Tower Company.
Since the end of last year, Florida and
the rest of the world have been caught
up in the throes of the coronavirus scare.
While health is obviously the primary
concern, COVID-19 presents just one more
challenge for small businesses in the state.
According to the State of Small Business
report 2020 from the Florida Small Business
Development Center, there are 2.5
million small businesses in the Sunshine
State. Eighty-eight percent of them have
fewer than 20 employees. In total, Florida
small businesses employ 3.4 million – or
41.6% of all private sector employees.
Small businesses support half of the
state’s economy and generate three-quarters
of all net new jobs. So, the health and
continued prosperity of small businesses is
vital to the state’s future.
That’s where the developmental centers
come in. There are eight regional offices
throughout the state. The network is the
only statewide provider of entrepreneurial
and business development services.
Network centers provide no-cost
consulting services, training and research
resources and offer a tool kit for growth
acceleration, access to capital, advice on international
trade, government contracting
opportunities and business continuation.
Simply put, SBDC provides a support system
for small business owners and creates
an “entrepreneurial ecosystem” for them.
By 2030, Florida is projected to add 4
million more residents, wrote Florida SBDC
Network CEO Michael Myhre. We will need
500,000 new small businesses to help service
that growth. Those new businesses are
expected to add another 1.2 million jobs.
The Treasure Coast Florida SBDC center
is housed and hosted at Indian River State
College. Tom Kindred has been its director >>
SUCCESS STORIES
Paul Chung is vice president of Hot
Pie Island Joe’s in Fort Pierce.
“We are the proud manufacturers of
Jamaican-style beef, chicken and vegetable
patties,” Chung said. “We met
Emily McHugh of SBDC at IRSC and
she introduced us to the resources at
the college. The company has grown
25 percent over the past two years.
Emily has helped us with our international
marketing and exporting. With
her help, we now ship pies to Belize,
Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago and the
Turks and Caicos Islands.”
/TCBusiness.com
