UEC Winner of the Small Business Person of the Year
Rebecca Ufkes, President of UEC Electronics, LLC, in Hanahan, is the 2010 SBA Small Business Person of the Year. She will represent South Carolina in the national Small Business Person of the Year competition in Washington, DC, as part of the National Small Business Week celebration May 23-29.
UEC Electronics, LLC (UEC) specializes in a wide-range of product design and development, rapid-prototyping, systems engineering, program management, complex assembly and volume production services. Recent projects include development of a time-release restraint device for non-combatants in hostile zones and the creation of a portable UV sterilization system for medical facilities.
Rebecca originally founded Ufkes Engineering Consultants in 1990 as a home-based engineering consulting firm with one primary customer. In 1995 Rebecca and her husband Philip joined forces to form UEC. Today, UEC has 115 employees and 80,000 square feet of manufacturing & integration facilities where a multi-disciplined engineering staff is co-located with the highly-skilled production team. UEC found its niche – and its success – by making smart decisions in the face of adversity.
Within the first few years of business, UEC’s primary customer suddenly reduced its orders by 50 percent due to an unexpected industry economic slowdown. To prevent another unexpected drop in sales, Ufkes decided to diversify UEC’s market by seeking opportunities with the Department of Defense.
UEC had no prior government contracting experience and initially had difficulty securing Defense-related work. Ufkes sought assistance from the SPAWAR (Space and Naval Warfare) small business office and subsequently entered the Navy’s Manufacturing Technical Assistance Production Program, becoming the first successful graduate. Within one year, UEC had become a successful Defense subcontractor and within two years, a successful Defense prime contractor.
Emerging from times of crisis as a stronger company, UEC has realized continued growth since diversifying its customer base. In 2009, despite the recession and while many businesses were forced to downsize, UEC hired 11 new employees, opened a new 19,000 square foot manufacturing and electronics integration facility and invested in a Surface Mount Technology manufacturing line to further broaden their appeal to customers. UEC has been ISO9001 certified since 1995 and in 2009 achieved AS9100B certification permitting their products to be used in aerospace applications.
UEC is a two-time winner of the Tri-County Emerging Ten Award for innovation and technology. In 2008, the company received the SBA Award for Excellence in recognition of its performance designing and producing 3,700 power distribution units for the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force’s Mine Resistance Ambush Protected Vehicle program. In 2009, UEC won the SBA’s Regional Subcontractor Award.
Ufkes was nominated by Sandy Davidson of the Charleston Area Small Business Development Center. She will be honored on May 12 at the 2010 Salute to Small Business in Columbia.
All SBA programs and services are provided on a non-discriminatory basis.