SCORE, the national nonprofit organization committed to providing mentoring and guidance throughout the life of a business, is taking a comprehensive approach to keeping entrepreneurs and small business owners informed.
This month, the organization is launching a pilot of “One SCORE,” an initiative that culls business-oriented webinars among 30 local chapters in the mid-Atlantic region, including SCORE Bucks County, throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C., and presents them to a wider audience.
The region is the first to roll out the new model for showcasing webinars, including staples such as how to start a business, writing a business plan, financial projections and marketing.
“We are leading the way in the nation within the SCORE organization in developing, testing and executing this and measuring our clients’ impact as a result of these efforts,” said mid-Atlantic SCORE regional vice president Ed Coleman, a volunteer mentor. “It really boils down to quality, consistency and presenting the topics that best align with our small business clients’ needs and to integrate and support the client mentoring process.”
By combining resources, the chapters can eliminate duplication and offer many more online workshops. On average, 15 webinars will be available monthly, most free of charge. Paid workshops can be attended at no cost with a coupon code from a SCORE mentor. Most of the webinars will be led by local chapter experts.
“All in all, it’s a great way to reach a bigger population and be more consistent in the message that we offer,” said SCORE Bucks County chairwoman Linda Zangrilli. “We’ll be putting our best foot forward in terms of the speakers and the topics and have that potential to attract so many more clients.”
In addition to providing online educational offerings, SCORE volunteers provide no-cost one-on-one mentoring in-person, online or by phone and email. Mentors have expertise in various business-related backgrounds, from finance and accounting to business operations, information technology, marketing and more, making it easy to pair clients with the expert in their industry.
Local SCORE chapters will still have the ability to offer location-specific webinars, as well as in-person events. For the Bucks chapter, which serves small business owners in Bucks County and eastern Montgomery County, Zangrilli said the popular annual women’s event, held at Parx Casino, will continue.
Visit score.org for more information.
