Thomas Van Horn, owner
East Hill Honey / Pensacola
Honey producer and distributor
Three years after founding East Hill Honey in 2011, Tommy Van Horn wanted to extend its market reach beyond Pensacola. He knew he would need money to grow and that in order to impress a banker, he’d have to prove that his was a cause worth supporting. In 2014, he sought help from the Florida SBDC at the University of West Florida to create a business plan. “Dorian Zwierewicz helped us develop a vision, determine goals and write down the steps to get there,” Van Horn says. He got the money he needed and, as a result, he has semi-automated his extraction and bottling processes and, most recently, purchased land for a new warehouse.