Dr. Mimi Hull of Hull & Associates Named Florida SBDC Network and FSBDC at UCF 2021 State and Regional Volunteer of the Year
September 21, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Hal Thayer, Communications Director, FSBDC at UCF, 407.420.4850 or hthayer@ucf.edu
Orlando, FL – The Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) and the state-wide Florida SBDC Network have named Dr. Mimi Hull, PhD, psychologist and the president Hull & Associates, as the 2021 State and Regional Volunteer of the Year. Dr. Mimi, as she is known, has distinguished herself by her long and committed service as a volunteer expert since 2005 in the FSBDC’s award-winning Advisory Board Council (ABC) program. She has donated over 140 hours of pro-bono consulting services to small business owners across the Central Florida region which represents a total market value of almost $40,000.
Sponsored by the Florida SBDC Network, the Regional Volunteer of the Year Award recognizes one volunteer from each region of the FSBDC Network that has provided significant, direct contributions with respect to advocacy, consulting, training, program development or special projects during calendar year 2020. From that group of nine regional winners, a single State Winner is selected.
“It gives the FSBDC at UCF and the Florida SBDC Network great pleasure to recognize Dr. Mimi Hull of Hull and Associates for her long and dedicated volunteer work supporting the FSBDC at UCF’s clients in our Advisory Board Council program” remarked Eunice Choi, Regional Director of the Florida SBDC at UCF. “It is experts like Dr. Mimi who make our ABC program transformative for small business owners and so valuable to them.”
The Advisory Board Council is a next-level, business support service assisting established Central Florida businesses by matching them with experienced professionals with a diverse range of skills who work together on a carefully selected, “custom-fit” advisory board. The program provides dynamic talent and expertise specially selected to address the needs of the client company to help it solve problems and create opportunities. Notably, this service is provided at no-cost to the client, giving small business owners access to expertise and guidance that is sometimes financially inaccessible to them. Each of the advisors are volunteers who are interested in building relationships and improving the economic community in Central Florida. The operation of the program is funded primarily by Orange County and supported by the generosity of our sponsors.
A steadfast ally of the FSBDC, Dr. Hull has remained highly involved with the Advisory Board Council program throughout her nearly sixteen years of service. When asked what led her to become a volunteer advisor, she remarked, “The easy answer is that I was asked! Having said that, I said, “yes” because I believe in volunteer service and small businesses. While I work professionally with organizations, serving on an advisory board to a business leader sounded new and challenging. I was also aware that often owners know a tremendous amount about their product or service that they offer, but as they grow, many owners realize that they are not prepared for the people issues that arise. I knew that I could help in that arena…and I wanted to. In addition, I was told that I would be serving on a board with other professionals with different backgrounds. Working with other professionals with different skill sets was also intriguing and I wanted to be a part of that experience.”
As a licensed psychologist, consultant, trainer, and speaker running her own successful firm for over 30 years, Dr. Hull brings widely recognized and significant human relations, strategic planning, training, leadership development, performance management, and organizational development experience to her professional engagements. She has actively applied this expertise with each of the ABC clients she has served. These clients cover a wide spectrum of industries including a landscaping service contractor, a water treatment manufacturer, a civil landscape design/planning firm, and a caregiver referral service.
One of the ABC boards that Dr. Hull has served on includes a producer and wholesale supplier of artisan frozen desserts including gelato, sorbet, and ice cream – Muse Gelato. When asked to reflect on his time working with Dr. Hull, CEO and Co-Founder of Muse Gelato, Brandon Moss, stated, “We were extremely fortunate to have Dr. Mimi Hull serve on our advisory board through the FSBDC, as she was a tremendous resource to advise on HR, employee relations, training, management, and the complicated dynamics of running a family business. She got to the heart of the issues and offered numerous helpful insights aimed at helping us grow not only our business, but ourselves as business owners.”
“Dr. Mimi’s extensive and tireless dedication to giving back in numerous ways and the expertise that she lends to positively impact the Central Florida business community and drive economic growth make her a highly respected and very valuable resource to the ABC program and her peers alike,” concluded Jill Kaufman, Assistant Director and ABC Program Manager at the FSBDC at UCF.
For further information about Dr. Mimi Hull and Hull & Associates, please visit http://www.hullonline.com/.
— FSBDC —
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 the UCF Office of Partnership & Innovation 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 2020, the FSBDC at UCF served more than 2,800 entrepreneurs in Central Florida with consulting services, resulting in more than 10,000 jobs created, retained or saved; $1.2 billion in sales growth; $92.4 million in capital formation; $92.7 million in government contract awards; and 86 new businesses started. For more information, please visit www.sbdcorlando.com .
About the Florida SBDC Network
For over forty 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 2020, Florida SBDCs provided 162,476 hours of professional business consulting to almost 23,900 client businesses, resulting in almost 38,000 jobs impacted; $4.4 billion in sales generated; $335 million in government contracts acquired; and $385.8 million in capital accessed.
A statewide network of over 40 offices, the Florida SBDC is funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Defense Logistics Agency, State of Florida and other private and public partners. The Florida SBDC Network, headquartered at the University of West Florida, is nationally accredited by the Association of SBDCs and is a 2016 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
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