The Small Business Institute, the premier provider of professional development for those engaged in experiential student team consulting and related entrepreneurship education, research and activities and the link between business, education and community, recently announced that a student team from the University of Central Florida’s College of Business Administration and College of Engineering was a winner in its annual Experiential Learning Project of the Year competition, taking 1st Place in the 2021-22 ‘Graduate Comprehensive’ category.
In competition with MBA teams from across the country, the UCF student team of Ben Park, Christopher Gray Miller, and Tarrik Harb won 1st Place in the ‘Graduate Comprehensive’ category on the strength of their consulting project for Dovi Window Designs, Inc., a Volusia County-based windows and doors contractor and installer.
Sponsored by the Florida Small Business Development Center at UCF (FSBDC at UCF), this is the 17th time that a UCF student team has won an award in the 12 years that UCF and the FSBDC have participated in the SBI® national competition.
“It is truly gratifying to recognize these UCF students for winning this prestigious award,” said Rebecca Bennett, PhD., Professor of Management and Interim Chair of the Department of Management. “Utilizing the SBI® program as part of our course offering is a valuable experiential learning platform which contributes to the quality of the student educational opportunity at the University of Central Florida and an important educational partnership between UCF and the FSBDC.”
The Small Business Institute® is featured in a graduate level class in the UCF College of Business: ENT 5946 – Small Business Consulting. The class is led by faculty advisor Dr. Carl Blencke, an instructor for the UCF CBA’s Department of Management, as part of a management class. Ms. Jill Kaufman, Assistant Director, and Program Manager, with assistance from Ms. Jessica Ali, Program Coordinator and Associate Consultant, oversees and manages the program for the FSBDC which recruits clients and carefully evaluates the students’ skills to create an ideal match with the clients’ needs in order to produce meaningful consulting engagement. In the case of Dovi Window Designs, the student team was guided through the process by its Case Supervisor, Jose Molfino, an FSBDC Consultant with both a business and engineering background as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt.
“The SBI® and this 1st Place honor are a win-win-win: for our UCF students, for our FSBDC client, and for UCF itself,” commented Eunice Choi, Regional Director for the FSBDC at UCF. “Congratulations to the students who have contributed to a small business’s growth, to our client Adam Dovi and Dovi Window Designs for his future opportunities, and to UCF for offering a class that so admirably serves its students and its Central Florida business community.”
“The FSBDC at UCF and UCF partnership supporting the SBI® is indicative of our shared commitment to the small businesses in Central Florida while also offering experiential learning opportunities to UCF students. It demonstrates UCF’s commitment to our community and to growing the local economy, and the FSBDC’s contribution to furthering UCF’s educational mission,” Choi continued.
“A team of three graduate level students from UCF out classed, outperformed, and out hustled each and every consultation team I have hired over the past 20 years. It was an absolute breath of fresh air to deal with a team so well organized and focused. They have made a greater impact on our company than they will ever know,” said Adam Dovi, the owner of Dovi Windows Designs, Inc and FSBDC client.
The student team’s contribution to Dovi Windows & Doors was substantial. Initially charged with developing a marketing plan to increase revenues, it was discovered when the students met the client and probed for his “pain points” that there was a six-month installation backlog. The team, in concert with the client, determined that establishing improved production capacity and streamlining efficiencies were of greater importance in the near term. Since the student’s skill set included engineering expertise, the team addressed the most important installation issues first before delivering the client’s requirements for a marketing plan. In the era of pandemic and supply chain limitations, the team was able to create efficiencies that helped the client meet his short-term needs while preparing the business for greater success in the future.
