Mentors of the Western North Carolina SCORE Chapter volunteer their personal time and expertise to help entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations to start, run and thrive, representatives said.

For the fourth year in a row, their efforts have been recognized with the highest honor from the national organization.

Evaluated for performance in Polk County and Landrum, and the counties of Henderson, Rutherford, Transylvania, Jackson, Macon, Clay and Cherokee, the western North Carolina chapter is among the top 10 percent in the country for performance, and again achieved the Platinum Level. This honor is given to only a few of the more than 300 chapters from New York City to Los Angeles.

SCORE is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Each year, the national organization rates performance of all chapters on criteria that include client evaluations, client retention, increases in mentoring sessions, growth in clients served, workshop participation and increase in the diversity and numbers of mentors.

Founded in 1964, SCORE was an acronym for Service Corps of Retired Executives. The relevance of the acronym has diminished since the corps has expanded to include active business professionals.

There are now more than 11,000 volunteers, donating more than 2. 2 million hours a year in mentoring and educational programs.

“We offer brainpower locally, personally, free to any of our neighbors who are running a small business or who have the courage and passion to start one,” said Bill Kerns, chapter chairperson.

Polk County mentors include a business lawyer, informational technologies professor, social media professional, accountant, marketer, market researcher, advertising agency owner/creative director, sales manager/trainer, banker and a successful owner of multiple small businesses. Clients cover a broad range of businesses from retail to manufacturing, services to restaurants and cultural organizations to animal rescues.

More info on SCORE is available at score.org or by emailing scorepolkcounty@gmail.com. 

– Submitted by Vincent Verrecchio