Orange County SCORE Scores Big by Partnering with HP and American Express OPEN

This article was written by Bill Morland, SCORE Orange County Management Counselor

SCORE Orange County Chapter 114 is honored to have been selected by both HP and American Express OPEN to host major events in Orange County to help the local small business community in tough economic times.

The HP event took place on Thursday, April 30^th at the Huntington Beach Public Library. It was attended by 103 businesses with 134 attendees were able to attend a great workshop put on by HP followed by a networking lunch. The workshop topics were Business Security, Technology, and Marketing. The guest speaker at the lunch was the former head of the U.S. Small Business Administration, Hector Barreto. HP underwrote the entire cost of the event so there was no charge to the attendees.

The American Express OPEN counseling event took place on May 12^th at the Anaheim Hilton. This all day event and was attended by 220 local small businesses with over 300 total attendees. Each business had a 30 minute business coaching session with one of 50 SCORE counselors. In addition, each attendee was able to attend four different workshops on finance, marketing, government contracting, and success stories. Marty Keller, the small business advocate in the Governor’s office, gave a welcoming talk in the morning. Dr. Esmael Adibi, the head of the Economics Department at Chapman University, delivered the luncheon keynote address on the economy. The entire cost of this no charge event was underwritten by American Express OPEN.

At both events Orange County SCORE provided a computer station where small business owners who wanted additional no-charge business counseling could schedule a follow-up appointment with a SCORE counselor. You can easily book your own no-charge face to face business counseling appointment by calling 714-550-7369 any working weekday between 9 AM and 2:30 PM.

Our thanks go out to HP and American Express OPEN for allowing Orange County SCORE to participate and give our local small businesses increased awareness of the services that SCORE offers on a daily basis.