Small Business Development Center Opening in City of Palm Bay

No-cost Business Assistance from Expert Consultant Now Available at Florida SBDC at UCF – Palm Bay Office

May 12, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Hal Thayer, Communications Director, FSBDC at UCF, 407.420.4850 or HThayer@ucf.edu

Tina Lange, Consultant, FSBDC at UCF – Palm Bay, 321.296.9859 or Tina.Lange@ucf.edu

Orlando, FL – No-cost business consulting; business training and webinars; and access to extensive market research resources are now available in the City of Palm Bay from the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF). Thanks to funding by the City of Palm Bay, the FSBDC will have offices in the Palm Bay City Hall where it will actively support the local business community, small business owners and entrepreneurs. This will be the FSBDC at UCF’s second office in Brevard County, the first located at Eastern Florida State College in Cocoa, FL.

Designated as the principal business assistance organization for small businesses in the state, the Florida SBDC Network through regional offices such as the FSBDC at UCF and its satellite offices throughout Central Florida, now including Palm Bay, 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.

“Small businesses are the backbone of Palm Bay’s economy,” said Rob Medina, Mayor. “This partnership demonstrates the City Council’s continued commitment to supporting entrepreneurs, strengthening our local business community, and fostering long-term economic growth.”

“We are excited and pleased to offer our valuable services to the business community in Palm Bay,” said Eunice Choi, Regional Director of the FSBDC at UCF. “Helping entrepreneurs and small businesses start, grow and thrive is our mission and we are eager to be delivering on it in Palm Bay.”

The Florida SBDC at UCF’s office in Palm Bay, through a locally-based consultant, offers a wide range of outstanding services to support entrepreneurs and small business owners in their growth and success. Key services provided by the FSBDC at UCF include:

• Business Consulting: No-cost, One-on-one, Confidential
• Business Training: Workshops, Seminars and Training Sessions on topics such as business planning, marketing, financial management and more
• Access to Capital: Assistance Securing Bank Loans and Other Financing
• Market Research and Analysis: Help understanding Target Audiences, Competition, Industry Trends
• Disaster Recovery Assistance: Disaster Preparedness, Access to Emergency Funding, Business Continuity Planning
• Specialized Services: Government Contracting, through the APEX Accelerator at UCF

Leading the FSBDC’s new Palm Bay office is longtime Brevard County resident Tina Lange, a seasoned business executive with over 20+ years of broad and deep experience working in and with a variety of industries, including owning multiple small businesses. In addition to her significant business experience, Tina brings extensive knowledge of Brevard County businesses and their business environment, having assisted multiple local entrepreneurs and business owners with marketing/communications/branding, strategic planning and revenue growth. In her new role as the FSBDC consultant for the Palm Bay office, Tina will be available for office hours at the Palm Bay City Hall, and can be reached at tina.lange@ucf.edu or 321-296-9856.

For more information about the FSBDC at UCF – Palm Bay or to request consulting, please visit www.sbdcorlando.com.

About the FSBDC at UCF

Hosted by the University of Central Florida (UCF), and with its main office in the National Entrepreneur Center located at the Fashion Square Mall in Orlando, the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) is part of part of UCF’s Office of the President and the Florida SBDC Network.

The Florida SBDC at UCF provides aspiring and existing small businesses with no-cost consulting, low-cost training, and access to business data and research resources. In addition to its core service offering, the Florida SBDC at UCF also offers specialized services to qualifying companies, including capital access, market growth, government contracting, international trade, business continuation, cybersecurity, disaster planning and recovery, and more. The FSBDC at UCF serves an eight-county area that includes Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia counties and maintains 9 service centers across Central Florida.

In 2025, the FSBDC at UCF served 2,142 entrepreneurs in Central Florida with consulting services, resulting in more than 3,967 jobs impacted; $760.1 million in sales growth; $83.6 million in capital formation; $85.1 million in government contract awards; and 155 new businesses started. For more information, please visit www.sbdcorlando.com.

About the Florida SBDC Network

For 50 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.

In 2025, the Florida SBDC Network delivered 112,158 hours of consulting to 15,439 small business clients – resulting in business owners securing $534.7 million in capital, $711.5 million in government contracting, impacting 18,334 jobs, increasing sales by over $3.4 billion, and creating 1,111 businesses.

With over 40 offices statewide, the Florida SBDC is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Department of Defense, State of Florida and other private and public partners. Full funding disclosure available at www.floridasbdc.org/funding-disclosures.

The Florida SBDC Network, headquartered at the University of West Florida, is nationally accredited by the Association of SBDCs and is a 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.

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