The Mid-Shore Chapter for SCORE, the Small Business Association-affiliated volunteer organization that mentors and supports small businesses, is expanding its service to Cambridge and Dorchester County by establishing the Dorchester Branch of the Mid-Shore Chapter.
‘This initiative’, according the Steve Dolbow, chairman of the Mid-South Chapter, ‘is intended to support the small business development in Dorchester County. We have historically had support emanating from outside Dorchester with the support of some of the Easton office but the time is right to expand our offering. In the meantime we have others within the Mid-Shore Chapter that are eager to support an expanded Dorchester County initiative.’
A long-term supporter of the SCORE initiative is Allen Nelson, Executive Director of the Dorchester County Chamber of Commerce. According to Nelson, ‘Our community needs and can support a dedicated mentoring effort to advice small business folks who aspire to new businesses and those who have businesses and want help to grow them and otherwise deal with challenges in current operations.’
The local efforts will be led by Ed French who is also the Assistant District Director for SCORE’s Eastern Shore District. The Dorchester County team currently includes Kurt Riehl and Tim Norman. French is a 10-year resident of Secretary, MD, who recently retired as President and CEO and board director of MedCath Corporation, Charlotte, NC, a national publicly-traded hospital company. Kurt Riehl is a Cambridge/Dorchester businessman for three decades with a substantial, successful State Farm insurance agency serving Dorchester County and surrounding counties. He has been associated with the Mid-Shore Chapter in years past and served as mentor to numerous companies. Tim Norman is a master electrician and company general manager and an 18 year resident of Dorchester County. He is a member of the management and professional team of Barnes Electric, a successful electrical contracting business in Rhodesdale that includes most of the Eastern Shore in its service area for commercial and residential contracting.
According to French ‘The newly-assembled team that we expect to develop over the next several months will represent diversity and business and leadership skills of successful business men and women who want to apply their talents and time to voluntarily support and make a difference in the community through current and new businesses. We hope that with business planning and development support our experienced mentors provide we will further the creation of jobs and revenue base for the County. We are in the midst of seeking additional volunteers who are qualified and interested as mentors to small businesses in our community as well as finding entrepreneurs and business leader as clients looking for support in exploring expansion and market growth.’
The SCORE Mid-Shore Chapter includes Talbot, Caroline, and Dorchester Counties. Its stated objectives include mentoring and supporting small businesses but without management responsibility or responsibility for businesses’ decisions. There is never a fee associated with SCORE’s mentors. It is an advisory service that aspires to challenge and support businesses as they start or grow their businesses through the unpaid efforts of volunteers who do not have a conflict of interest. The national SCORE organization includes more than 13,000 mentors in more than 300 offices providing support to the local mentors if needed. SCORE volunteers collaborate with other supporting agencies including the Small Business Development Corporation, Chambers of Commerce, Economic Development Councils, funding groups such as the Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center, Maryland Capital Enterprises, local banks, and others who are in support of new and expanding businesses. The Dorchester team has business experiences that include start-ups with no revenues, ‘going’ small business experience, and successful experience operating small, mid-size, and large organizations and will be enhanced with new additions.
In the weeks ahead the SCORE Chapter hopes to increase its visibility in the Dorchester market so that local businesses will look to SCORE for support where helpful as it also looks to expand the volunteer base. In the meantime queries may be made directly to Ed French at [email protected] or 443-521-3569 if you have interest in exploring being a certified mentor or are a potential client. Additional information relating to SCORE is available at is Web site SCORE.org.
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