SCORE Tampa

Richard Hardesty retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1976 after serving 24 years on active duty. He is both a Korean war and Vietnam war veteran. He obtained his degrees from St Leo College here in Florida, and a Masters degree from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, California. He spent seven years in Saudi Arabia as a Program Manager for the Sperry Defense Corporation, and then the next twenty years as head of the Procurement Technical Assistance Center at the University of South Florida, where he taught a variety of subjects having to do with Federal government contracting. He has been a member of SCORE for 15 years.

Bruce W. Wilkinson, ESQ. is a founder and principal in Iltellysis, Inc., a Tampa- based consulting firm. Mr. Wilkinson serves as General Counsel, and he is also a shareholder in this company which provides business and legal counsel to clients on a nationwide basis.. He previously served as Vice President and General Counsel for Stromberg Carlson and Thorn EMI. His entrepreneurial skills has allowed him to blend corporate law, business, and commercial transactions to the benefit of his clientele. He is an active member of the Tampa SCORE organization and has served as the Recorder for the past three and a half years. He holds a BA from Williams College, his law degree from Cornell University, and is a member of the American Bar association in California, Illinois.

Kit Werremeyer worked for a major US engineering, procurement and construction contractor for 32 years. He was involved in major EPC projects for the oil, gas, refining, chemical, power, and petrochemical industries in the United States, South East Asia and China. His last position was Vice President and Area Director of Sales and Marketing for Asia, stationed in Singapore where he had senior management responsibilities for area sales and marketing and for the general management of six Asian subsidiary companies. He is currently owner and President of Southernstar Consultants LLC, providing professional services to US and international engineering and construction contractors and assistance to companies interested in doing business in Asia. His book, "Understanding and Negotiating Construction Contracts", was published in September, 2006 by RS Means Publishers of Kingston, MA. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois with a MS in Mechanical Engineering.

Ralph A. Hawkins is retired from IBM after 30 years in Sales, marketing, and general management assignments. He became Chief Operating Officer at ARI Network Services, and spent several years consulting. He received his BS degree from Tennessee Tech University, and had other company training at American University and Harvard Business School. He is also versed in transportation issues, data networks, insurance, and counseling. Ralph has been a member of the local SCORE Chapter for ten years, as a counselor, and workshop instructor.

Enrico F. Palumbo is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the Global Sage Group, LLC. He sets the vision, direction and the strategy for the enterprise. He specializes in the delivery of enterprise-wide business transformation strategy. He has been instrumental in the delivery of leadership management consulting, which has transformed the business functions of a number of the Fortune 500. He has more than 40 years of experience, with emphasis on the application of emerging technologies and large-scale system integration strategy.

Prior to founding GSG, Mr. Palumbo was a member of the founders group of Answerthink, where he served as the Director of IT Strategy. Mr. Palumbo was the Director of World Class IT in the Northeast geography and the Nolan Norton practice at KPMG Peat Marwick, LLP. Mr. Palumbo was employed at Digital for nineteen years in a variety of very senior assignments, such as the Director of IT Strategy Consulting, where he led the delivery of cutting edge consulting methodology and services globally. Mr. Palumbo also served on the leadership teams at Marshall’s Department Stores and Raytheon Company.

Mr. Palumbo holds a BA in Management and an MBA from New Hampshire College. He is an adjunct professor at the New Hampshire College Graduate School of Business and the Northeastern University. He is also the Managing Director of a non-profit organization focused on children and play therapy products and services. Mr. Palumbo has been elected to the WHO’S WHO Worldwide registry and participates in the MIT Leaders for Manufacturing and MIT Forum.

George R. Boraiko has been an active SCORE Counselor for eight years. He is President/CEO and Founder of The Ashdale Group, Inc., an Equity Growth consulting firm and his professional experience includes over 31 years in each of the following industries; real estate syndication, investments & financial management, and business consulting. George holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Loras College and he continues to pursue his post-graduate studies both professionally and academically through program participation at various Universities and professional workshops. Mr. Boraiko’s professional career includes Management and/or Officer positions with such notable firms as Associates Finance, Merrill Lynch, A.G. Edwards and National Background Data. In addition, he served as President/CEO of First Illinois Capital Corporation, a privately held corporate developer for partnerships involving Burger King, Ground Round, Arthur Treachers and Pizza Hut.

George has hosted numerous public speaking forums including the Junior Service League of Brandon, the Minority Enterprise Development Group, Tampa Hillsborough Public Library, the Hillsborough Small Business Information Center (SBIC), SCORE, the SBDC, the Brandon Chamber of Commerce, AG Edwards, Morgan Stanley and more. In support of our Government's National Small Business Growth Initiative, Mr. Boraiko is an active SCORE Counselor as well.

Ed Di Santo received his Masters Degree from Northern Illinois University in Industrial Training and holds a Business Degree from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. He worked in the training and development arena for the past 25 years at United Airlines World Headquarters Corporate Training Department in Illinois. After retiring from United Airlines he continued to conduct workshops and training seminars as a consultant. He taught at St. Petersburg College as an adjunct professor for two years in their Corporate Training Center, in the area of supervision and management. Ed’s entire working career has been spent conducting sales classes and coaching Account Executives and Sales Managers one on one to help improve their management and selling skills.

He is a former member of the local Chapter of American Society for Trainers and Developers (ASTD) and former Faculty Advisor to Moraine Valley Community College (School of Travel and Tourism) in Illinois.

Garl Tyer is a CPA trained business management consultant primarily working for stakeholders of “troubled entities” and start-up entities. He has served as CEO, CFO and Owner of both large and small businesses in multiple industries including transportation, logistics, restaurants (multiple locations) retail (multiple locations), service and others. He has served as a counselor, workshop leader, workshop chairman, office manager and treasurer of SCORE Chapter 203.

Joe LoPresti has over 40 years of corporate and small business experience. He was involved for many years in the home construction business and then started his own state licensed company in the six county Tampa Bay area to supply and install natural gas and propane gas lines. His company employed 14 highly skilled tradesmen. Joe is from Pittsburgh, PA and has degrees from Duquesne University.