DEVAL LLC Selected to Gator100
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – DEVAL LLC was named to the University of Florida’s 2016 Gator100 during a ceremony Feb. 19 at UF’s J. Wayne Reitz Union Grand Ballroom.
Sponsored by UF, the Warrington College of Business and the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Center, the Gator100 recognizes the 100 fastest-growing businesses owned or led by UF alumni. Ernst & Young calculated each company’s compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past three years to generate the ranking.
DEVAL LLC was ranked 86 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.08%
Deborah Garcia-Gratacos is President and CEO of DEVAL LLC. She started her financial, loan servicing and management consulting business out of her home in 2002, and it has grown to a multimillion-dollar operation with four locations and more than 100 staff members, serving such clients as the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and American Express. Today, DEVAL is the only Hispanic woman owned non-bank loan servicing business in the nation.
“The Gator100 is an important initiative that recognizes entrepreneurial excellence,” said Dr. Michael Morris, the Academic Director of the entrepreneurship program at UF. “It is open to any and all companies founded or run by Gator alumni, and recognizes those who are achieving growth, innovating, and making a difference in their communities.”
To qualify for the Gator100, companies must have been in business for five years or more as of Oct. 1, 2015, and have had verifiable annual revenues of $250,000 or more in 2012. Additionally, a UF alumnus or alumni must have met one of the following three leadership criteria:
Owned 50 percent or more of the company from Jan. 1, 2012, through Oct. 1, 2015; or
Served as company’s chief executive from Jan. 1, 2012, through Oct. 1, 2015; or
Founded the company and been active as a member of the most senior management team from Jan. 1, 2012, through Oct. 1, 2015.
View the full list of Gator100 honorees at gator100.ufl.edu.
