Eagle 6 Technical Services, LLC Finds Success with Assist from UCF-hosted FSBDC and PTAC

Assistance from UCF-hosted FSBDC and Florida PTAC Helps Managed Security IT Services Company Grow

October 14, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

Steven South, PTAC Manager, PTAC at UCF, 407.420.4859 or steven.south@ucf.edu

Orlando, FL – John Burns is an accomplished leader. He is a retired United States Army Colonel with a distinguished military career, including as a commander in combat. He built a successful IT consulting business after the Army. It was then he saw a government contracting opportunity he thought he could win. And win it he did.

But now what? Transforming from being a one-person consultancy to building a company with multiple employees that could service a multi-faceted government contract is a tall order. That’s when Burns turned to both the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) and its government services partner organization, the Florida Procurement Technical Assistance Center at UCF (Florida PTAC at UCF).

“It was time to make a major pivot,” recalls Burns. “I needed help. I needed expertise on how I could scale up a company and identify the processes and systems necessary to do so. That’s when I sought out the FSBDC and PTAC. My consultant Steve South was superb. We laid out a game plan to get all the pieces I needed to have in place – employee hiring, insurance, worker’s comp, payroll, benefits – to jump start my business. Then I did it.”

Today, Burns’ company Eagle 6 Technical Services, LLC is a multi-million dollar Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) specializing in cybersecurity, command & control and logistics & maintenance systems. It is currently expanding into managed security services for the commercial health care sector as well as for government clients, and has broadened itself into being a full-fledged security integrator, providing physical security, information security and personal security solutions.

From the start, Burns has taken advantage of all that the FSBDC and PTAC have to offer, including the high value, no cost, expert business consulting he receives from South; business training seminars and workshops; and access to expansive market research resources. He went on to participate in two of the FSBDC’s Services for Leaders programs, the Advisory Board Council (ABC) and the Small Business Institute® (SBI®).

FSBDC at UCF’s Advisory Board Council is a no-cost board of experts providing advice and counsel to help businesses grow.  The FSBDC acts as a matchmaker, creating a customized board of volunteers selected to address the specific needs of the FSBDC client. The Small Business Institute® connects small businesses to the resources and management expertise of UCF’s College of Business Administration through consulting projects overseen by the FSBDC and performed by UCF MBA and other qualified business students.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the help I received from the FSBDC over the past four years,“ concluded Burns. “They helped me put processes and systems in place where, as a small business, I could manage the cash flow that was critical to growing the company.”

“The results speak for themselves: we’ve increased revenues about 200% in the last three years; we’ve hired new employees and raised headcount; and we’ve expanded and won additional government and commercial work. Working with the FSBDC and PTAC has been an awesome experience for Eagle 6.”

For information about Eagle Six Technical Services, please visit https://eagle6usa.com/.

— FSBDC —

About the Florida Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at UCF

Government Contracting Services offered by the Florida Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at the University of Central Florida provide high-value, confidential one-on-one consulting at no cost to help Florida businesses prepare, research, and bid on federal, state, and local government contracts. Since 1986, Florida PTAC client businesses statewide have won $9 billion in contract awards, helping to create and save almost 200,350 jobs. This PTAC is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the Defense Logistics Agency. For more information, please visit www.fptac.org.

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 10 service centers across Central Florida.

In 2018, the FSBDC at UCF served over 2,500 entrepreneurs in Central Florida with consulting services, resulting in more than 6,500 jobs created, retained or saved; $749 million in sales growth; $36.1 million in capital formation; $178.3 million in government contract awards; and 277 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 2018, Florida SBDCs have provided professional business consulting to 11,500 client businesses, resulting in more than 38,400 jobs impacted; $4.4 billion in sales generated; $520 million in government contracts acquired; $201.8 million in capital accessed; and 665 new businesses started.

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
sbdc@ucf.edu | www.sbdcorlando.com