SCORE Association

SCORE or the SCORE Association was previously known as the Service Corps of Retired Executives, but is now recognized as "SCORE, "Counselors to America's Small Business." It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides free business mentoring services to entrepreneurs in the United States. The organization also presents business workshops and seminars for a fee. Business mentoring services are provided by both active and retired volunteers who donate their time and expertise as mentors to new and established entrepreneurs. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Mission

According to the association, it is “dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small business nationwide.” It attempts to realize this goal by “providing resources and expertise to maximize the success of existing and emerging small businesses.” [SCORE Association [http://www.score.org] ]

History

The SCORE Association was founded in 1964. In the 1970s, when SCORE chapters were formed, the organization expanded its services to offer workshops and seminars on a variety of business topics. In 1996, SCORE began providing small business advice via email to meet the changing demands of the information technology age. To date, SCORE has served more than 8.0 million clients.

Services

Principal Services
- Face-to-face counseling (mentoring)
- Online counseling (mentoring)
- Online resources for entrepreneurs
- Business planning tools
- Workshops and seminars
- eNewsletters

Face-to-Face Mentoring
SCORE has approximately 389 chapters throughout the United States and its territories and over 10,500 volunteers to assist entrepreneurs and small business owners. Many local chapters have branch locations throughout the regions they administer and provide workshops/seminars on a variety of business related topics.

Online Mentoring
SCORE began providing online counseling services on June 11, 1997. This feature of the organization, better known as Ask SCORE, garnered more than 1.6 million hits and more than 3,000 online counseling cases within the first 90 days. At its inception the site listed 140 online counselors. Today, there are nearly 1,500.

Development timeline

— 1953: Maurice du Pont Lee of Wilmington, Delaware gathered a small group and formed a consulting and advisory service for small businesses.
— 1953: The Small Business Act was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created. The law said the federal government “should aid, counsel, assist and project the interests of small business.” Counseling small business in management practices was written into law.
— 1963: More than 50 independent groups across the country were providing low-cost or no-cost business counseling.
— 1964: (Oct. 5) SBA Administrator Eugene P. Foley officially launched SCORE as a national volunteer group with 2,000 members, uniting independent efforts into a national force.
— 1970: Walter H. Channing of Detroit, Michigan, serves as the first president of SCORE.
— 1975: SCORE was formally incorporated into a nonprofit association.
— 1978: SCORE is honored for small business counseling service to 2 million Americans.
— 1989: SCORE marks 25 years of small business service.
— 1994: SCORE celebrates 30 years of volunteer service.
— 1996: SCORE begins to offer counseling via email.
— 1996: SCORE establishes The Walter Channing Award, the highest award for volunteer service within SCORE. Named after SCORE’s founding President and President Emeritus Walter H. Channing. Channing is the first recipient of the award.
— 1997: SCORE forms a national alliance with Visa Inc., USA to bring financial management and "How to Start a Business" workbooks to small businesses.
— 1997: SCORE is honored for small business counseling service to 3.5 million Americans.
— 1997: SCORE launches the national SCORE Small Business Web Site.
— 1998: SCORE’s online counseling now represents 12 percent of all SCORE mentoring.
— 1999: SCORE celebrates its 35th Anniversary in the Indian Treaty Room of the Old Executive Office Building, The White House.
— 1999: SCORE forms national alliance with the The Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in support of SCORE’s mission.
— 1999: SCORE welcomes 700th member to its online counseling team.
— 2000: (Oct. 1) SCORE restructures the organization to a governing board of directors and an operating management team of district directors.
— 2000: John H. Titley of Ashland, Oregon bequests $250,000, which establishes The SCORE Foundation. Titley was a past president of SCORE.
— 2000: SCORE holds its first annual SCORE District Directors Conference to train volunteers for senior leadership roles in SCORE.
— 2000: SCORE honors Herbert M. Ausderau with The Walter Channing Award for his volunteer service. Ausderau is the second recipient; he is honored for his long-term board service, audit committee service and prolific face-to-face and online counseling.
— 2001: SCORE counselors donate more than 1 million hours of service to the small business community in 2001.
— 2001: SCORE’s popular "How to Really Start Your Own Business" workbook reaches more than 300,000 entrepreneurs.
— 2002: SCORE online counseling volume increases 39 percent to more than 90,000 sessions.
— 2002: SCORE holds its first annual SCORE Chapter Chair Orientation to orient and train volunteers for SCORE chapter management roles.
— 2003: SCORE receives the inaugural USA Freedom Corps Award for exemplary volunteer service, presented by SBA Administrator Hector Barreto. [ U.S. Small Business Administration OBCI [http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/obci/OBCI_ELLEN_THRASHER.html] ]
— 2003: SCORE re-launches the SCORE Small Business Web Site and has record high online counseling volume.
— 2003: The SCORE Small Business Web Site wins the Standards of Excellence Award from the Web Marketing Association. [Web Marketing Association [http://www.webaward.org/winner.asp?eid=118] ]
— 2004: SCORE celebrate its 40th anniversary at a White House event.
— 2004: SCORE receives an Award of Excellence from the American Society of Association Executives for the positive impact SCORE counseling has on American society. [ American Society of Association Executives [http://www.asaecenter.org/AboutUs/newsreldetail.cfm?ItemNumber=6699] ]
— 2005: SCORE serves its 7 millionth client.
— 2005: SCORE wins Webby Award for Web Site Excellence [The Webby Awards [http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=9] ]
— 2006: SCORE serves 7.5 millionth client.
— 2006: SCORE wins Interactive Media Awards Outstanding Achievement [Interactive Media Awards [http://www.interactivemediaawards.com/winners/winners.asp] ]
— 2007: SCORE wins American Library Association’s Best of the Best Business Web Sites [American Library Association [http://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusaourassoc/rusasections/brass/brassprotools/bestofthebestbus/bestbusinesswebsitessmall.cfm] ]
— 2008: SCORE serves 8.0 millionth client.
— 2008: SCORE launches www.score.org/women, a Web site specifically for women entrepreneurs. [SCORE Newsroom [http://www.score.org/newsroom_new_women_site.html] ] The organization also launches its first blog, the SCORE Women's Success Blog. [SCORE Newsroom [http://www.score.org/newsroom_womens_blog.html] ]

References

ee also

*Small Business Administration
*Entrepreneurship
*Small Business

External links

* [http://www.score.org Official Site]
* [http://www.score.org/women SCORE Women's Web Site]
* [http://womensblog.score.org SCORE Small Business Blog]
* [http://www.score.org/paul_kopelcheck.html A Volunteer Profile]
* [http://www.score.org/newsroom_media_releases.html Newsroom]
* [http://www.smallbusinessadvocate.com/small-business-member-archives/ken-yancey_1456_1.html Podcast: Interview with SCORE CEO, Small Business Advocate]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/strauss/2005-03-21-score_x.htm Article: Interview with SCORE CEO, USA Today]
* [http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/faithbased/partnershipgeneralinfo/FBCI_PARTNERSHIP_INDEX.html SBA Partnership Page]