Valley Pacific Floral Inc.

Longtime Florist Revives Business with Help from SBDC

When Cindy Wurdinger-Kelly took a field trip to a Woodburn flower shop in high school, she knew right away she wanted to be a florist.

Cindy now owns that flower shop, called Valley Pacific Floral, Inc.

The shop was called Rudy’s Flowers and Gifts when Cindy started working there at age 16, she said. She went on to get an associate’s degree in retail floristry. She worked at several flower shops in Portland before going to barber college. She cut hair for several years until she’d saved up enough money to buy the flower shop in 1991.

Cindy went to SBDC while experiencing financial troubles in her shop. SBDC helped her get her cost of goods under control, write a business plan, build a website and write an employee handbook and operations manual, she said.

SBDC has helped her better understand her customer base in order to grow sales, Cindy said. She often attends the SBDC’s monthly sessions to stay up to date on topics like social media marketing, insurance and new legislation that affects her business.

“They’re helping me work smarter, rather than longer hours,” she said. “So I can get a day off now and again.”