Rock Island Today

Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce Inc issued the following announcement on July 14

While COVID-19 forced many businesses and organizations to push pause last year, it had quite the opposite effect on the Quad Cities SCORE Chapter which saw new clients and business assistance requests skyrocket.

In fact, the Quad Cities SCORE achieved “Platinum” status for its FY20 performance which was highlighted by an 82% increase in client services. Last year, only 40 of SCORE’s 278 active chapters earned the “Platinum” status, the highest designation from the national organization. 

The chapter is part of the nationwide nonprofit dedicated to helping small businesses and entrepreneurs. Its growth was driven, in large part, by the COVID-19 resources that the chapter provided in collaboration with community partners such as the Quad Cities Chamber. Nationally, SCORE saw a 30% increase in client services in 2020.

“During the pandemic, the surge of entrepreneurs hit historic levels,” said Tom Trone, chair of the Quad Cities chapter and SCORE’s Iowa District Director. “We had a record number of people looking at starting their own business – some who had lost jobs, left the industry they were in before and a lot were early retirements.”

Like the startups and existing businesses it serves, the Quad Cities chapter found itself changing how it did business, ramping up its technology tools and reimagining how to connect with clients.

With more people looking at new career paths and business ventures, Trone said SCORE answered the call delivering new and expanded services across the 15-county region of eastern Iowa and western Illinois it covers. Its volunteer business mentors – all experienced professionals in their respective fields – served a record 400 clients and hosted 30 workshops with 1,000 attendees.

While other chapters went quiet in 2020, Quad Cities SCORE upped its game by strengthening community partnerships with economic development partners such as the Quad Cities Chamber and chambers in Clinton and Muscatine. It also forged new relationships with nonprofits including YWCA and Project Now.

“SCORE has been a critical partner in our entrepreneurial ecosystem and in helping small businesses grow,” said Julie Forsythe, the Chamber’s Senior Vice President, Business & Economic Growth. “They were absolutely vital to small business last year. SCORE navigated the Paycheck Protection Program loan process and was a critical partner to our restaurant and retail sector.”

As a key partner for the Chamber, Forsythe credited SCORE with helping organize panel discussions with small businesses to provide their perspective, advice and best practices for others to cope with the pandemic.

Demand exploded for SCORE’s services, particularly, among existing and new clients hungry for knowledge and assistance on helping their business survive COVID-19 and navigating the pandemic-related funding programs, Trone said.

The chapter, now in its 43rd year, also offered new programming and expanded services including:

• Partnering with Google as a workshop partner to provide a suite of digital media workshops.
• Business volunteers pivoted to virtual mentoring/workshops.
• The addition of Dillon Franks as SCORE’s Community Engagement Lead. He is responsible for identifying and development more community partnerships.
• Moving toward the ONE Score operating model, a new national initiative to ensure that all SCORE clients and volunteers receive the same experience no matter how, when or where they interact with SCORE.

In recent months, client services have dropped to normal levels, Trone said. “The Covid-19 bubble was unique and significant. Importantly, our community stepped up to work together to meet the needs of entrepreneurs and small business in a time of crisis.”

But to continue its progress, Trone said SCORE needs to expand its volunteer mentoring force as well as its client base and the diversity in its ranks. Recruitment is particularly focused on women, minority and veteran volunteers so they can provide their expertise with entrepreneurs in those same populations.

With 35 active volunteer members, he is pleased that nearly one-fourth are women and minorities – giving the volunteer base more diversity than in the past. “But we’d like to double that,” he added.

One of the negative impacts of COVID-19, however, was a 25% decline in the chapter’s members, including those who provide chapter leadership, one-on-one mentoring and workshop administration. “The virtual world separated those that were capable technically and those that don’t,” Trone said, adding that with the shift to a digital delivery of services “that gap widened in the past 18 months.”

Trone said there also is a need to expand its leadership and prepare for succession planning within all its work areas including: volunteers, client and community engagement; marketing; client assignments; technology/systems; chapter administration and more.

Looking forward, Trone said SCORE is on the verge of even more collaboration among SCORE chapters and districts. “We’re building a statewide infrastructure where we’re sharing more resources,” said Trone, whose district encompasses four chapters in the Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Ottumwa as well as nine branches including Moline, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Ottumwa.

“Our chapter was the highest-level performer and to do that during a pandemic was remarkable,” Trone said applauding his volunteer force. “Our group here was very adaptable, continued to stay in the game and helped our clients. It took a group of people who knew our mission was more important than ever.” 

SCORE at a glance

WHAT: SCORE is a nationwide nonprofit organization dedicated to the formation, growth and success of small businesses.

HISTORY: Founded in 1964, SCORE is headquartered in Herndon, VA. A resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration, it has been mentoring small business owners for more than 40 years. 

REACH: SCORE has a national network of 13,000+ volunteers across 250 chapters who offer small business entrepreneurs confidential business mentoring services at no charge. The volunteers represent more than 3,000 years of experience across 62 industries.

IN THE QUAD CITIES: The Quad Cities SCORE Chapter 432 was approved in 1978 by the SCORE National Office. It was founded by several retired Quad Cities business executives and professionals who wanted to use their talents in helping others start new businesses or help existing businesses become more successful. 

MILESTONES: In June 1997, the Quad Cities Chapter was named National SCORE Chapter of the Year. Two years later, it was named Region 5 Chapter of the Year and one of the Top 10 in the nation. In 2020, the chapter received the National SCORE’s Platinum designation, the highest designation for a chapter. 

SERVICE AREA: In 2019, Quad Cities SCORE added six more Iowa counties to its coverage area. Today it serves a 15-county territory comprised of the Iowa counties of Scott, Clinton, Muscatine, Washington, Louisa, Jefferson, Henry and Des Moines, as well as Rock Island, Henry, Bureau, Mercer, Lee, Henderson and Whiteside counties in Illinois. It has branches in Moline, Muscatine and Clinton. 

MORE INFORMATION: https://quadcities.score.org or www.score.org.

Original source can be found here.