Health & Fitness
SCORE Chicago Says Veteran Owned Small Businesses May Benefit From Scholarships Available Under Its Fast Launch Initiative
SCORE is a not-for-profit association consisting of about 13,000 volunteer mentors and consultants nationwide, dedicated to helping small businesses grow by providing highly experienced support.
Just over a week ago on Friday, June 29th I sat with an interesting young man named Henry at a SCORE Chicago workshop. A Marine Corps veteran, Henry left the corps after seven years and went on to gain a degree relating to business management at a local college. He also launched a Chicago based business serving property management companies.
Henry told me he is always working and proved it since he took the time to chat with me on the nation's celebration this past July 4th. He seems both diligent and goal oriented.
On a hot, rainy morning what was Henry doing at a workshop at Ogilvie Center in downtown Chicago? Well he was making use a scholarship he received through SCORE's Veterans Fast Launch Initiative. So let me tell you a little about SCORE and the program to aid “members of our military (active duty, reserves, and National Guard) and all veterans and their immediate family members with many unique special offers.”
SCORE is a not-for-profit association consisting of about 13,000 volunteer mentors and consultants nationwide, dedicated to helping small businesses grow by providing highly experienced support. SCORE-Chicago has 120 volunteers professionals, all of whom were business owners or successful business executives including entrepreneurs, bankers and consultants. The volunteer mentors, counselors and resources may be still actively working, semi-retired or retired. SCORE offers free mentoring for the life of a business and low cost workshops to all, and free consulting services for companies with annual revenue between $3 and $30 million. SCORE is a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
SCORE clients are almost equally divided into three categories:
1. Those individuals thinking about launching a small business,
2. Those in the process of starting a business, as well as
3. Those trying to keep their businesses alive.
“Through the Veteran Fast Launch Initiative, SCORE is taking part in First Lady Michele Obama and Dr. Jill Biden’s Joining Forces Initiative, a program designed to improve support for our service members and their families. As part of this program, SCORE will reach out to provide mentoring, tools, and training to military personnel and their families who want to use their special skills and knowledge to start or grow their own small business.”
Veterans have a six step workshop program available, including topics such as:
- business startups,
- writing successful business plans,
- accounting tools,
- finance option,
- marketing and
- social media for businesses.
Additional optional workshops include
- Quick Books,
- email marketing,
- face to face and digital networking as well as
- publishing WordPress Web sites.
A complete list is available at the SCORE Chicago Web site.
Free personal business advice from SCORE mentors, free software and online services as well as free Web based workshops, tools, templates and white papers for starting their business are also available. For more information, please visit the Veterans Fast Launch Initiative page or call (312) 353-7724.
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Note: I am proud to say I was accepted as a SCORE Mentor volunteer this past May and will be volunteering as a co-mentor, workshop presenter and outreach marketing to buiness and public groups.
