This article was written by Ben McCulloch, SCORE Orange County Vice Chairman
It’s our pleasure announce that we’ve received word from our National office that your partner – the Orange County chapter of SCORE – was the top-producing chapter of the nearly 400 chapters across the US during 2007. A total of 12913 client services were performed. The top ten chapter locations represent a significant portion of US business activity:
| 1. Orange County | 6. Chicago |
| 2. San Diego | 7. Phoenix |
| 3. Atlanta | 8. Houston |
| 4. Los Angeles | 9. St. Louis |
| 5. New York | 10. Portland |
Obviously, this achievement is important to us. But what’s in it for you? The ranking measures the total volume of chapter ‘services’, where each service is an advisory transaction with a small business owner. This means that, during 2007:
- We met with you over 4,000 times for one-on-one counseling at one of our sixteen locations throughout Orange County, or at your place of business for more comprehensive Advisory Council services;
- Over 4,000 of you attended one of our business workshops, offered at 10 convenient locations and covering over 50 topics ranging from ‘Accounting’, to ‘Valuing Your Business’; and,
- We conducted nearly 5,000 ‘cyber sessions’ over the Internet with small business owners across the nation who turned to Orange County to get their advice.
All this from a counseling team of 100 counselors: knowledgeable and experienced business women and men who volunteer their services without cost to you, and who connect you to their network of Orange County SCORE and national business partners.
So, what’s in it for us? First and foremost, our pay-off comes one client at a time. Each counselor works for your success, and each client ‘success story’ is a chapter win. However, being ranked #1 across the US gives us further indication that you value our services.
We thank you for a great 2007 and look forward to continuing to support the business of Orange County in 2008.
