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Three SCORE volunteers were honored at the October 21 Greater Cincinnati SCORE members luncheon held at the Maketewah Country Club. In addition to local members, attendees also included SCORE National CEO Ken Yancy and Congressman Steve Chabot, who serves as chair of the House Small Business Committee.SCORE is the volunteer mentoring arm of the Small Business Administration. Its 100-plus mentors in the Cincinnati area provide no-cost mentoring and low-cost small business workshops for entrepreneurs who are high on passion, but need the practical business guidance and support that only seasoned business owners and managers can provide.
At the luncheon, Yancy presented Mary Jane Good, a member of the Greater Cincinnati chapter, with a Platinum Leadership Award. The award is the national organization’s highest recognition possible, celebrating outstanding leadership and meritorious services to the SCORE Association and the district. A member since 2002, Good is a former chair for the Greater Cincinnati chapter and the first woman to chair a SCORE chapter nationally. She also serves as the organization’s representative on the City of Cincinnati’s Small Business Advisory Committee.
The current chair of the Greater Cincinnati SCORE chapter, Dean Swomley, also presented Mary Jane Good, as well as Tom Moon, with the Outstanding Member Award for service that has consistently exceeded all expectations over many years. A popular presenter for the organization, Moon is also a former chapter chair; in addition, he has served in various capacities on the Education Committee, the Executive Committee, and the Board of Directors.
Finally, Swomley also presented Jim Stahly, the now-retired chair of the Greater Cincinnati SCORE chapter, with the Gavel Award for his outstanding service during FYs 2015 and 2016. Swomley said the chapter received a Platinum status award from National for excellence in not only mentored clients but for its commitment to SCORE’s mission and strategic goals.
In the last year, the chapter also experienced incredible growth in membership. Total membership increased by 12% overall, while the number of women increased from 4% of total membership to 25%. In addition, face-to-face clients grew by 10% and workshop and seminar attendance nearly doubled to more than 1,200 participants. These improvements are the direct result of programs, polices and practices developed by Jim Stahly and his team.
The meeting began with an impromptu talk by Ken Yancy, who highlighted the impact that SCORE has had on small businesses in America in the last year, which included providing over 8,000 local workshops and over 40 online courses. SCORE volunteers number more than 13,000 members nationally, representing expertise in 62 industries.
He also introduced the main speaker, Congressman Steve Chabot, who shared the goals for his next term. Chabot said he is hopeful that the new administration will address and improve regulatory reform for small businesses. He is working closely with Ways and Means to simplify the tax code, which would also benefit small business ownership. He said he would also like to see government contracting streamlined to make it easier for more small business to win their fair share of those contracts.
Chabot thanked the volunteers for the work they do and encouraged them to share their small business success stories with him. He said he is honored to bring these small business owners to Washington to speak to his committee.
For information about SCORE workshops or mentoring, call (513) 684-2812 or visit www.scoreworks.org.
Contact Info:
Name: Donna Amos
Email: Send Email
Organization: SCORE
Address: 525 Vine Street, Room 1030 Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone: 513-256-1792
Website: http://www.scoreworks.org
Release ID: 151160