Mike Sabellico, National SBDC State Star Recipient 2013
July 19, 2013
Mike Sabellico has been selected for the National SBDC State Star Award, 2013. He will be recognized for his exemplary services and hard work and presented the National SBDC State Star Award in Orlando Florida this coming September.
Mike was originally nominated and selected for the National State Star Award because of his strong commitment to small business success and his contribution to the Orange County/Inland Empire Region SBDC Program. He continues to share his experience and provided expert guidance in the areas of procurement strategy, certification, marketing, networking and government contracting. Mike’s commitment and assistance has led clients to be awarded over $48.8 million in contracts, $22 million increases in sales, and to create and retain 558 jobs.
Background of the National SBDC State Star Award
Each year, the Orange County / Inland Empire SBDC Network selects an outstanding staff member among the entire network to be recognized as the network’s State Star. The recipient is recognized among their peers across the country at America’s SBDC annual conference along with State Star recipients from all 63 state and regional SBDC programs.
The staff member nominated for this award shows exemplary performance, makes significant contributions to the regional SBDC program, and shows a strong commitment to small business.
Narrative Submitted for the National SBDC State Star Review Board
Mike is our top performing consultant and a trusted advisor at the Orange County SBDC. He provides a wealth of experience in the areas of procurement strategy, certification, marketing, networking, and government contracting. He is an exemplary performer who has led our Procurement program to a higher level. As a result of his guidance, over $48,886,844 of contracts was awarded to our clients, and their sales went up by $22,365,463. Those clients have been able to access debt and equity capital totaling $10,051,746 enabling them to create and retain 558 jobs. He also specializes in assisting Disabled Veterans start their owned business, apply for and receive federal Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business certification and state of California’s Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise certification. Clients consistently ask for him by name when seeking our assistance and he has clients who travel from San Diego and Los Angeles to see him.
Mike has made a substantial contribution to the OC/IE SBDC Network and the SBA Santa Ana District Office. He is called on regularly to assist 8 (a) firms and participates and presents at the monthly 8(a) workshop offered by the Distinct Office and annual Regional 8(a) conference for San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles based firms. He has helped numerous clients of the network gain their Federal Small Disadvantaged Business 8 (a) certification to expand their prospective customer base and increase their business success. He also was hand selected to teach the National Boots 2 Business Program at Camp Pendleton. He created insightful presentation on the newly established federal Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB) certification program which was so well received in the local Woman Owned Business community that the Orange County Chapter of National Association of Women Business Owners requested that he provide the training to their membership.
Mike is passionate about providing top-notch assistance to small businesses and particularly to veteran owned and service disabled veteran owned business. He serves on the Advisory Board of the Metropolitan Water District – Small Business Outreach and the Board of Directors of the Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) Alliance. Additionally, he is the president of the Alliance’s Orange County/Los Angeles Chapter where he volunteers his time to assist Disabled Veteran-owned businesses grow and achieve success and new veteran-owned businesses get started. He recently revamped our Government Contracting seminar strategy, created individual seminars for 8(a), WOSB, HubZone, and SDVOSB with impressive expert panels and a cohesive matchmaking component. Recognizing the number of construction industry small businesses in the area and who are active clients of the center he also developed a construction Industry specific event designed to strengthen the communication between the large prime contractors and the small businesses in the Industry.
