Celebrating 2013's SCORE Chapter of the Year for National Small Business Week
新闻分类 | SBA | 新闻栏目 | Industry Word |
发布时间 | June 18, 2013 | 新闻来源 |
This week is my absolute favorite of the year because National Small Business Week marks the biggest celebration of small business the whole year long. It feels almost like the week of Christmas, with Friday being the big day of celebration taking place right here in our own backyard of Washington DC. Small businesses from around the country will be recognized for their hard work and I couldn’t be more proud and excited.
Across the country, all year long, SCORE chapters work to help small businesses start, grow and succeed. Tomorrow we get to showcase a prime example of the wonderful work of our volunteers and the small business success they help create by honoring the 2013 SCORE Chapter of the Year. This year, the award goes to SCORE Lancaster located in Pennsylvania – a chapter that is truly innovative when it comes to educating and mentoring small business owners.
You need only witness the success of SCORE Lancaster’s clients to understand the great work this chapter is doing. Clients like USA Gypsum that, under the guidance of SCORE Lancaster mentor Lou Davenport, completely reworked their financial structure, resulting in incredible gains in profitability, a significant decrease in reliance on debt and overall, a sustainable new business model. President and General Manager of USA Gypsum, Terry Weaver, has worked hand in hand with his mentor for more than five years, continuously improving operations and has seen increased profits in each of those years. As mentor Lou Davenport says, USA Gypsum “is a great example of how a good business idea, combined with a fine work ethic and continuous business process improvement can all combine into a successful business that serves both market and community needs.”
Small business is certainly an important servant of local communities, but communities also help sustain small businesses. With this in mind, the volunteers at SCORE Lancaster pioneered a new method of client interaction called the Business Roundtable. Local small business owners meet to discuss issues they are facing and offer help to one another. It is a highly effective and popular event that is now utilized by chapters across the country to help small businesses interact, network and solve problems in a collaborative environment.
All year long, we are proud of the work SCORE volunteers across the country are doing. But this week, and especially tomorrow, is our chance to really put faces to those successes and give recognition to those who deserve it. Congratulations to all of the 2013 National Small Business Week Award Winners and to our Chapter of the Year, SCORE Lancaster. These small businesses and the mentors who serve them certainly have profound effects on their local communities and our country as a whole.