Release Date: April 5, 2007
Contact: Dianne Barlar, Marketing Director (850.473.7809 or dbarlar@uwf.edu)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Florida Environmental Engineer & SBDC Client Named
2007 Florida Small Business Person of the Year

Rod Vargas and Eunice Choi

PENSACOLA, FL—Rod Vargas, President of Apex Environmental Engineering & Compliance Inc., was named the U.S. SBA’s 2007 Small Business Person of the Year for Florida. Vargas, client of the Small Business Development Center at the University of Central Florida (SBDC at UCF) since 1998, was nominated by Eunice Choi, Interim Director of the SBDC at UCF, in recognition of his contribution to the Central Florida business community and his active role as a community leader. Vargas will be recognized in Washington, D.C. on April 24 at an award luncheon. The highlight of the event will be the announcement of the National Small Business Person of the Year and runners-up selected from among the 53 state winners. The state award will be presented to Vargas on May 10 in Orlando. Florida SBDC Network State Director Jerry Cartwright and UCF College of Business Dean Tom Keon will attend. Cartwright boasts, “I am extremely proud of Rod Vargas and the support he received from the SBDC at UCF in Orlando.”

Apex, an Orlando-based company founded in 1997 by Vargas and Chris Parent, specializes in providing high quality environmental health and safety, and engineering consulting services within the United States. Apex initially started with a staff of two and a gross revenue of $75,000 and has grown today to a staff of 32 professionals, two regional offices in Merritt Island and Tampa, and $5.2 million in revenue.

Choi says, “Vargas is highly deserving of this award because he has accomplished so much through his company, and he has such a big heart for giving to the community.” She adds, “I have assisted Vargas since 1998 and it is a privilege to see how impressively his company has grown.”

The SBA approved Apex for 8(a) certification in 1998, and referred him to the SBDC at UCF to conduct a ‘management audit’, examining essential functions such as finances, marketing and human resources. Apex implemented the audit suggested improvements. Vargas says that working with the SBDC was “the beginning of our growth. They helped us tremendously.” And, when asked why he continued to use the services of the SBDC the past ten years, Vargas said, “The word is trust.”

In 2005, Vargas participated in the SBDC’s Advisory Board Council (ABC) program which provides a no-cost advisory board comprised of volunteer professionals to qualified businesses. Graduation from the ABC in 2006, Vargas said “the Board opened the sides of the box, allowing us to see what was in front of us. It helped us move up a couple of notches.”

Vargas mentors minority small businesses providing them with leadership and guidance while connecting them with the available resources he utilized. He believes in giving back to the community—Apex provides pro-bono work to groups and entities that could not otherwise afford engineering services; and, personally, he commits financial resources and volunteers his time. He leads the Feed the Homeless ministry at his church and has led numerous mission trips that provide supplies to orphanages; supports local churches; and helps in the reconstruction of devastated communities in Peru, Nicaragua, Asia and Spain.

The Florida SBDC Network is a statewide partnership between higher education and economic development organizations dedicated to providing emerging and established business owners with assistance enabling overall growth and increased profitability that contributes to the economic prosperity of the state. For more information about the FSBDCN, visit our website at www.FloridaSBDC.com.


Florida SBDC Network
State Director's Office
University of West Florida
401 E Chase St, Ste 100
Pensacola, FL  32502
850.473.7800 / f 850.473.7813
fsbdc@uwf.edu / www.FloridaSBDC.com

The FSBDCN is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the US Small Business Administration.