Ahmed Cruz was no business novice when he came to Florida SBDC for help. He and his partners had already launched three successful startups, and one of them — Globenet International Corp., a provider of turnkey tech solutions — wanted to become a government contractor. But while Cruz knew telecommunications and computers, government contracting was beyond his expertise. “It’s a difficult market, very bureaucratic, very hard to understand,” he says. “We needed help.” Working with Florida SBDC at FIU, Globenet secured 12 government contracts the first year “even though,” says Cruz, “most of the material I read said it would take three years to get the first award.” Globenet International Corp. now calls the U.S. State, Interior and Defense departments among its clients, and the company’s markets include all of the Americas, plus parts of Europe, Africa and Australia