AS SEEN ON CentralFloridaFuture.com
Though stimulating a small business can be a trying endeavor, UCF is doing its part to help ambitious businesses rise to the occasion.
The Small Business Development Center at UCF, with the help of its new Growth Acceleration Program, have aided Hernon Manufacturing, a company that sells high performance adhesives and sealants, in their pursuits of growth and expansion.
Introduced by the SBDC at UCF in March 2011, the Growth Acceleration Program provides an in-depth consultation of a client’s business in areas such as marketing and business development, strategic planning and assessing capital.
Though Hernon Manufacturing has been a client of the SBDC at UCF since April 1998, the company feels that it was its participation in the Growth Acceleration Program that really made the difference.
“The SBDC at UCF’s Growth Acceleration services have been an important ingredient in putting Hernon’s expansion on the fast track,” said Harry Arnon, CEO of Hernon Manufacturing. “We had aggressive growth goals to begin with and, thanks to the help of the SBDC’s growth acceleration consultants, have met and surpassed them.”
Hernon Manufacturing recently entered a new distribution agreement with Miller Bearings, which will distribute Hernon products to 17 locations throughout Florida. Also, in just the past three months, Hernon Manufacturing has gained more than $1 million in contracts to deliver equipment to some of the world’s largest defense contractors.
Arnon, who has been with the company since its start in 1979, went on to say how essential programs like the Growth Acceleration Program are to all small businesses that are looking to grow and develop.
“Small businesses don’t have enough financial expertise after a certain period of time,” Arnon said. “You can grow to a certain plateau, but to overcome that, you need certain tools like the ones UCF provides.”
Jill McLaughlin, an SBDC at UCF Growth Acceleration Services consultant, worked closely with Hernon in 2011. After witnessing the company’s growth and success, McLaughlin feels that the consultation paid off. ”
They are very focused on their growth,” McLaughlin said. “With our assistance, they continue to grow rapidly.”