Florida SBDC at UCF

Florida SBDC at UCF Names Jose Molfino Lake County Area Manager

Expert Business Assistance Available to Local Businesses         

May 9, 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 University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) today announced that it has named Jose Molfino as Area Manager of the FSBDC at UCF’s office in Lake County. He will oversee the FSBDC’s client service activities across the county and be responsible for providing consulting services, seminars and workshops and access to market research data aimed at assisting FSBDC at UCF clients start new businesses and then grow them into successful small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

In partnership with the Lake County Economic Growth Department, the FSBDC’s sub-center in Lake County helps local businesses grow and succeed, and contributes significantly to business start-ups and expansions in the area. It is housed in The Suites at Hunt Industrial Park at 15430 County Road 565A, Suite F, Groveland, FL 34736. The FSBDC at UCF – Lake County’s direct line is 352-404-7624.

Jose Molfino joins the Florida SBDC at UCF after an accomplished 20-year career as a financial executive with experience in the US, Latin America and the Middle East working for small, medium and Fortune 500 companies, most recently as an executive at Eli Lilly and Company and as the owner of Pacific Windtree LLC, a real estate investment firm. Since 2016, he has also been a volunteer advisor for the FSBDC’s award-winning Advisory Board Council program where he has helped businesses solve problems and create opportunities.

Mr. Molfino specializes in business finance, strategic planning and budgeting, business development and process improvement and assisted pre-venture,  start-ups and established business across a wide spectrum of industries.  He is a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, earned an MBA in Finance from Virginia Tech and has a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Lima – Lima, Peru.

For more information about the Florida SBDC at UCF or to answer any questions, please contact Hal Thayer at hthayer@ucf.edu or call 407.420.4850.                

— 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 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 2020, the FSBDC at UCF served more than 2,700 entrepreneurs in Central Florida with consulting services, resulting in more than 10,000 jobs created, retained or saved; $1.2 billion in sales growth; $59.1 million in capital formation; $53.4

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 162,519 hours of professional business consulting to more than 24,100 client businesses, resulting in almost 38,000 jobs impacted; $4.4 billion in sales generated; $488 million in government contracts acquired; and $553.5 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
sbdc@ucf.edu | www.sbdcorlando.com