Orange County SCORE honored for its role in ‘Driving Our Nation’s Economic Growth”

(CONGRATULATIONS ORANGE COUNTY SCORE!!! 1 MINUTE HIGHLIGHTS OF 4 MENTORS IN THIS EPISODE.)

Orange County SCORE honored for its role in ‘Driving Our Nation’s Economic Growth’

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) today announced that Orange County SCORE (www.score114.org) has been named the 2014 SCORE National Chapter of the Year.

This is the fourth time the chapter has earned this distinction and Orange County SCORE is the only one of SCORE’s 330 chapters nationwide to receive the honor more than twice.

“We are so proud of Orange County SCORE and of their tremendous contributions to the success of the local small business community,” remarked SBA District Director Adalberto Quijada.  “The SBA and SCORE have been partners for decades and they’ve set the bar extremely high with their fourth Chapter of the Year award.”

“The Orange County SCORE chapter has proven its excellence year after year by not only serving an incredible number of small businesses but also in pioneering new ways to make mentoring even more effective,” said SCORE CEO Ken Yancey.

“This honor reflects the unwavering dedication of over 100 chapter volunteers who spent thousands of hours with entrepreneurs listening, mentoring, teaching and coaching,” states Larry Tucker, Orange County SCORE Chapter Chair.

When notifying SCORE of the award, the SBA stated Chapter 114 was successful in part for its hard work, innovative ideas, dedication to the business community, and its role in driving our nation’s economic growth.

The SBA will present the award during National Small Business Week (NSBW) in Washington, DC, in May. NSBW recognizes outstanding small business owners for their personal successes and contributions to our nation. More than half of Americans who work either own or work for a small business.

Since 1969 Orange County SCORE has demonstrated success in achieving and modeling SCORE’s core values: Service, Collaboration, Quality, Credibility and Personal Growth. The SBA award recognizes the Orange County chapter’s achievements in the range of services offered to small businesses and their impact on our community, including:

• No-cost personal mentoring at locations throughout Orange County

• Free and low-cost workshops on a variety of business topics at many locations

• The no-cost use of an Advisory Board of mentors for existing businesses

• CEO Forum, a program for existing business owners to work through their issues in a peer-to-peer learning environment

• Women in Business Breakfasts, bi-monthly events for learning and networking

• The annual Women Business Owners Conference, an opportunity to hear from knowledgeable speakers, learn from successful peers and network with others

Orange County SCORE comprises more than 100 volunteer mentors who leverage their expertise to help start and grow small businesses. In its most recent fiscal year, Orange County SCORE volunteers personally held more than 4000 mentoring sessions with entrepreneurs and educated over 11,000 people in 350 workshops. An independent study concluded that in 2013, Orange County SCORE helped start 774 new businesses.

SCORE is a nonprofit organization of 11,000+ volunteers in 330 chapters throughout the United States dedicated to helping grow successful small businesses across America, one business at a time.