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Eileen Rodriguez receives award

Tampa, FL (October 4, 2012) — The ¹ú²ú¶ÌÊÓƵSociety of Latinos (SOL) has named Small Business Development Center Regional Director Eileen Rodriguez the recipient of its 2012 ¹ú²ú¶ÌÊÓƵSOL Staff Award.

The award will be presented at the ¹ú²ú¶ÌÊÓƵHispanic Heritage Celebration kickoff event, Thursday, October 4, at the ¹ú²ú¶ÌÊÓƵMarshall Student Center.

The ¹ú²ú¶ÌÊÓƵSBDC's first Spanish-speaking business analyst, Rodriguez has helped Tampa Bay's Hispanic community start and run successful businesses. For more than 15 years, Rodriguez has provided no-cost business consulting to Hispanic entrepreneurs. Rodriguez developed and taught the center's Spanish workshops, such as Steps to Starting a Small Business and Minority Business Enterprise Certification. During her progression from business analyst to associate and then regional director, she continued to add bilingual consultants to the team. Under Rodriguez's direction, the SBDC's Hispanic client base has grown to nearly 16 percent.

During the past year, Rodriguez has remained active in promoting the Hispanic community through her memberships in organizations such as the Hispanic Professional Women's Association, where she's been a member since 1994. She is also working with leaders in Colombia to help develop a business assistance center. Increasing the country's economic capability will help boost American exports and give Hispanic Americans a huge advantage when conducting business in Colombia.

Also in the past year, Eileen has enhanced the ¹ú²ú¶ÌÊÓƵSBDC's capability to serve Hispanic clients by adding a center in Hillsborough County with three bilingual business consultants. In addition, she brought on an additional assistant director with extensive contacts and experience working with Spanish-speaking business owners.