Tuesday September 27, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Hal Thayer, Communications Director, SBDC at UCF, 407.420.4850 or hthayer@bus.ucf.edu

Orlando, FL –Six (6) clients of the Small Business Development Center at University of Central Florida made Inc. magazine’s prestigious 2011 Inc. 500/5000 list of the nation’s fastest growing private companies.  The list, representing the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy —America’s independent entrepreneurs, measures revenue growth from 2007 to 2010.

In a stagnant economic environment, the median growth rate of 2011 Inc. 500/5000 companies remains an impressive 94 percent. The companies on this year’s list report having created 350,000 jobs in the past three years, and aggregate revenue among the honorees reached $366 billion, up 14 percent from last year.

"Now, more than ever, we depend on Inc. 500/5000 companies to spur innovation, provide jobs, and drive the economy forward. Growth companies, not large corporations, are where the action is,” said Inc. magazine Editor Jane Berentson.
The six SBDC at UCF clients named on this year’s Inc. 500/5000 list include:

• Hooah LLC, Jorge Suria, President – ranked 336 with 988% three-year sales growth. Hooah is a minority-owned interactive communications firm located in Winter Park.  www.hooah.cc   
• Dignitas Technologies, Elizabeth Burch, President and CEO – ranked 410 with 834% three-year sales growth. Dignitas Technologies is an Orlando-based, woman-owned small business providing system and software engineering services for the Modeling and Simulation industry.  www.dignitastechnologies.com
• Innovative Data Solutions, Joshua Brown, CEO – ranked 1,801 with 147% three-year sales growth.  Innovative Data Solutions is a compliance management software company serving a wide range of industries.           www.imagineids.com
• A+ Tutor U, The Kimball Companies, Neal Kimball, President – ranked 3,223 with 60% three-year sales growth. The Kimball Companies operates four businesses devoted to "making families stronger" through several different educational products and strategies, including A+ Tutor U.  www.APlusTutorU.com
• Common Sense Office Furniture, Craig Caswell, President – ranked 3,681 with 42% three-year sales growth.  Common Sense Office Furniture sources and sells office furniture to Florida businesses. www.commonsenseof.com
• American Home Companions, James Mark, President - ranked 4,826 with 8% three-year sales growth. This is the fourth year in a row Orlando-based AHC made the Inc. 5000 list. AHC is Florida’s largest live-in companion care agency. www.ahccares.com

“We are gratified and very proud that so many of our clients have been recognized by Inc. magazine for their consistent year-over-year revenue growth, which is particularly noteworthy in these challenging economic times.  With revenue growth come jobs, both new hires and retained positions. We at the SBDC at UCF are pleased to have played a role in our clients’ success and their contribution to the Central Florida economy, “remarked Eunice Choi, Regional Director of the SBDC at UCF.

As SBDC clients, these Central Florida businesses attribute part of their growth to the services they received from the SBDC at UCF, including business counseling, training, and government procurement assistance. In addition, several of the businesses participated in the SBDC at UCF’s award-winning program, the Advisory Board Council. The Advisory Board Council aims to facilitate business growth through the use of advisory boards for established Orange County companies. The program acts as a matchmaker between established businesses and professionals who volunteer their expertise as members of a ‘custom-fit’ advisory board. 

Founded in 2003, the SBDC at UCF’s Advisory Board Council is an economic development program funded by Orange County Government. Since its inception, the program has assisted 125 companies and has had more than 450 area professional volunteers. “This recognition of the SBDC clients on the Inc. 5000 list attests to the quality of the entrepreneurs we have in Orlando, and to the value of the SBDC at UCF’s Advisory Board Council program – a winning combination,” commented John Lewis, economic development administrator for Orange County.

These local companies continue to utilize the support of the SBDC at UCF to grow their businesses in other ways, as well. Today, four of the company presidents are participating in the SBDC at UCF’s CEO XChange program. The CEO XChange is an executive roundtable program launched in 2010 designed for second-stage companies, offering a confidential setting for top executives where they can benefit from peer-to-peer coaching and networking, and discuss vital issues, opportunities and trends.

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With its main office in the National Entrepreneur Center (formerly the Disney Entrepreneur Center) now located at the Fashion Square Mall in Orlando, the SBDC at UCF is part of the UCF College of Business Administration and the Florida Small Business Development Center Network, providing business seminars and free one-on-one business consultation to small business owners. The SBDC at UCF serves an eight-county area that includes Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia counties and maintains six satellite service centers. In 2010, the SBDC at UCF helped entrepreneurs create or retain 1,241 jobs, win contract awards worth $38.3 million, acquire $20 million in capital formation, and increase sales by $18.4 million. The SBDC at UCF is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

SBDC at UCF | 3201 E. Colonial Drive | Orlando, FL 32801 | p 407.420.4850 | f 407.420.4862
sbdc@bus.ucf.edu | www.sbdcorlando.com

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