SCORE Bucks County Mentors Guide Growth of 150+ New Businesses
SCORE Bucks County, a local chapter of a national nonprofit committed to providing mentoring services, helps drive new business growth.
In all, the chapter’s 80 volunteer mentors assisted in the creation of 154 new businesses, which, in turn, generated 782 total jobs in the 2022 fiscal year. SCORE Bucks – which includes all of Bucks County, as well as eastern Montgomery County, from Willow Grove to Blue Bell – provided a whopping 4,346 total chapter services last fiscal year.
The chapter offers a variety of no-cost webinars several times per month on business-related topics, including starting a business, marketing a business, human resources, and managing cash flow. Volunteers provide in-person, email, virtual or telephone mentoring sessions with entrepreneurs and small business owners on the topics most pressing to them.
Since 2019, SCORE Bucks has continued to see year-over-year surges in the number of mentoring requests. In fiscal year 2019, the chapter handled 1,200 mentoring sessions. By 2022, that number had more than doubled to 2,432 sessions.
SCORE provides mentors with ongoing training on everything related to business. Mentors typically have a specialty or area of expertise based on their career and educational background, but the organization teaches all mentors the basics of business startup.
When the organization began in 1964, it was focused primarily on recruiting retired executives and former business owners as mentors for the next generation of entrepreneurs. That mindset has changed dramatically with some mentors still working or running a business. Under the leadership of Chairwoman Linda Zangrilli – the chapter’s first female chair – the Bucks chapter has diversified its pool of mentors, including more female mentors.
Just as all mentors are unique, so are SCORE clients. Each client has different needs. Some may meet weekly, then shift to monthly sessions as their operations begin. Some clients may need support for a few months, while others need SCORE’s help for a few years.
About SCORE
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 11 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE provides small business mentoring and workshops to more than 375,000 new and growing small businesses. With more than 70 members across Bucks and Eastern Montgomery counties, SCORE Bucks County provides over 4,300 free mentoring services annually to local small business owners through one-on-one counseling and small business seminars. To stay up to date on news and happenings, join SCORE Bucks County’s email list. Text SCOREBUCKS to 22828.