New-to-Area Company Benefits from Aid by Florida SBDC at Seminole State College
Unlimited Employee Benefit Service Center (UEBSC) Growing After Relocation to Central Florida
January 30, 2018
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Hal Thayer, Communications Director, FSBDC at UCF, 407.420.4850 or hthayer@ucf.edu
Moses Ayiku, Sub-Center Manager, FSBDC at SSC, 407.321.3495 or ayikum@seminolestate.edu
Orlando, FL – In addition to assisting existing local small-to-medium sized businesses, the Florida SBDC at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) works with new-to-the-area companies seeking to establish themselves in our region. Unlimited Employee Benefit Services Center (UEBSC) is one of those companies. After relocating from Mississippi in 2016 and incorporating in Florida in early 2017, it has taken advantage of the support and resources offered by the FSBDC at Seminole State College (FSBDC at SSC), an FSBDC at UCF sub-center.
UEBSC specializes in providing retirement and health & wellness guidance to federal and state employees. Their motto: We Inform, Help and Direct. It is a premier national marketing organization representing a large group of top-rated companies in the financial and insurance industries and features professional, highly qualified Benefits Counselors from all over the country. UEBSC recently extended its services by offering Employer Health & Wellness Benefits programs.
“We were new in town,” recalls Cedric Lancaster, founder and CEO of Unlimited Employee Benefit Service Center. “We connected with the consultant and sub-center manager at the FSBDC at SSC Moses Aikyu. It has been a wonderful relationship.”
“With the FSBDC’s help, we have identified ways to become known in this area and built a game plan to get our business on the right track,” Lancaster continued. “Now we have the right strategies to take our business to the next level.”
In addition to benefiting from the FSBDC’s no-cost, expert business consulting, UEBSC has received significant support in the area of market research. By accessing the broad and deep information databases available from the FSBDC, UEBSC has been able to identify new business prospects and opportunities. And they’ve connected with multiple resource partners, including various Chambers of Commerce and other community groups.
They have also utilized the seminars and training available from the FSBDC, some of which guided UEBSC in becoming verified as a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) by the U.S. Small Business Administration, a designation that can be useful in winning government contracts.
“As a small business, we know that our success is tied directly to the effort we put into the business,” Lancaster remarked. “By combining our work ethic with the resources of the FSBDC, we have been able to grow. It is great to know we have someone there if we need assistance. And the FSBDC has been there for us every step of the way.”
And grow UEBSC has. Since arriving in Central Florida, it has created 19 jobs, invested more than $120,000 in the local economy and generated more than $1.5 million in sales. It is working with multiple federal, state and local governmental agencies, as well as a growing number of local businesses gained from their Health & Wellness services.
“Coming to Central Florida was the right choice for UEBSC. And choosing to work with the FSBDC was the right decision,” concluded Lancaster. “It’s the small things that make the big things happen. From the beginning, the FSBDC was willing to do whatever they could to help us. We’re glad to be working with them. They have been a vital part of our success.”
For more information about Unlimited Employee Benefit Service Center, please visit www.thinkuebsc.org.
— FSBDC —
About the FSBDC at UCF
With its main office in the National Entrepreneur Center located at the Fashion Square Mall in Orlando, the Florida SBDC at the University of Central Florida (FSBDC at UCF) is part of the UCF Office of Research & Commercialization and the Florida SBDC Network (FSBDC Network). The FSBDC at UCF provides business seminars and no-cost, one-on-one business consultation to emerging and established businesses. 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 2016, the FSBDC at UCF served over 2,400 entrepreneurs in Central Florida through consulting and training, resulting in nearly 6,700 jobs created, retained or saved; $980 million in sales growth; $92.7 million in capital formation; $154.6 million in government contract awards; and 120 new businesses started.
About the FSBDC Network
The FSBDC at UCF is a member of the Florida SBDC Network, a statewide partnership program nationally accredited by the Association of America’s SBDCs and funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Defense Logistics Agency, State of Florida and other private and public partners, with the University of West Florida serving as the network’s lead host institution. Florida SBDC services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Language assistance services are available for limited English proficient individuals. All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the she SBA or other funding partners.
For over 35 years, the FSBDC Network has nourished a statewide partnership between higher education and economic development organizations, dedicated to providing emerging and established business owners with management and technical assistance, enabling overall growth and increased profitability for the businesses and economic prosperity for the state. The FSBDC Network is a statewide service system of 41 centers with 60 outreach locations, including the FSBDC at UCF.
Since 2011, Florida SBDCs served almost 75,000 entrepreneurs and small business owners through consulting and training, resulting in 252,955 jobs created, retained or saved; $33.3 billion in sales growth; $1.4 billion in capital accessed; $2.6 billion in government contract awards; and 4,159 new businesses started.
FSBDC at UCF | 3201 E. Colonial Drive | Orlando, FL 32801 | p 407.420.4850 | f 407.420.4862
sbdc@ucf.edu | www.sbdcorlando.com
