Success Stories

Scott Williams, President Folsom Enterprises

Tallahassee, FLA. – Scott Williams, President, Folsom, LLC has grown the company from a 2-person operation to a multi-million dollar enterprise. Williams purchased the business, which at the time was a small sheet metal shop in 2013 for $5,000. He used his knowledge of real estate development to grow the company.

Williams attended Florida State University (FSU) and obtained his undergraduate degree in Finance in 2009. He graduated around the same time of the economic downturn, and was subsequently unable to find a job in finance and started working for a real estate development company. In 2010, Williams purchased a broken cell phone on the internet and later repaired it and sold it for a $200 profit. He immediately identified a business opportunity and his first venture was selling refurbished cell phones, while also maintaining his real estate development job. Over the next couple of years in excess of $200,000 worth of phones were sold through his cell phone business... Read More

Gabriel Ruiz, AITC, Inc.

Orlando, FLA. - Gabriel Ruiz, LTC USA (Ret)., President and CEO of Advanced IT Concepts, Inc. (AITC), was recently awarded the 2017 North Florida Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Ruiz was also recognized as the 2016 North Florida District Minority-Owned Small Business Person of the Year. AITC is a Central Florida based firm, specializing in the assessment, design, and implementation of Information Technology solutions to the government sector (including federal, state and local). AITC is part of the SBA North Florida 8(a) Business Development portfolio and has been awarded over 15 contracts since 2013.  

The 8(a) Business Development Program is a business assistance program for small disadvantaged businesses, designed to help them compete in the federal contracting arena. The 8(a) Program offers a broad scope of assistance to firms that are owned and controlled at least 51% by socially and economically disadvantaged... Read More

Sheryl Page, President and CEO Page One Consultants

Orlando, FLA. – Sheryl Page, President and CEO of Page One Consultants, Inc. (POC) was recently named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 2017 State of Florida Woman-Owned Small Business Person of the Year. Page has tripled revenues in 2 years and has also hired 30 additional team members in that time. The company has also acquired 13 new vehicles and nearly doubled the square footage.

Page, originally from upstate New York lived in various places growing up as result of her father’s job. She eventually settled in Florida and attended Miami-Dade Community College and then went to DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. She majored in business with a minor in accounting, while working full-time for a commercial lender as a Treasury Service Officer. After graduation, Page relocated to the Orlando area and worked as an Office Manager for an engineering firm. It was during that time that Page realized she enjoyed engineering and construction and hope to become an... Read More

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Andrew “Andy” Harold, President, A. Harold and Associates (AHA) has grown from a one-man operation to a multi-million dollar business with over 260 employees in 13 years.  AHA is a Service Disabled Veteran-Owned (SDVOB), 8(a)/Small Disadvantaged Business certified firm which provides training, logistics, support services, and construction products or solutions for government and other entities. Harold received his B.A. in Piano Performance from Oberlin College, but he couldn’t have guessed that his calling would be as a business owner at that time.  He later served in the United States Navy as helicopter pilot after attending flight school.  He was stationed in Jacksonville as part of his final tour of duty and eventually began to work for a defense contractor specializing in multimedia training for helicopters in 2001.

Harold started his own small business on the side in 2003 when the contract he was working on was set to expire. The business was... Read More

Pages