The San Luis Obispo Chapter of SCORE is celebrating national recognition and honors from the County of San Luis Obispo and City of Grover Beach. The chapter was recently chosen as the 2015 District Chapter of the year and was named a Platinum Chapter for its work mentoring small businesses across the Central Coast. Only five percent of chapters across the nation receive this award two years in a row.
SLO SCORE’s Lorna Whiteaker, who has served for three years as chapter chair, was also recently honored for her exceptional leadership to the chapter. She received a Mayor’s Proclamation from the City of Grover as well as a Resolution from the County of San Luis Obispo that acknowledged her leadership and the chapter’s successes. Some of the chapters accomplishments include: Helping to create 195 new businesses in San Luis Obispo during the past three years; fostering financial growth of all SLO SCORE clients during the past fiscal year; tripling the number of free workshops offered; and helping the chapter reach the Platinum level twice. Each year all SCORE chapters are reviewed and measured by how each chapter stacks up in more than twenty areas including operations, finance, ethics, leadership and chapter growth.
SLO SCORE offers free business counseling services to existing and start-up small business clients in San Luis Obispo and Northern Santa Barbara Counties. SCORE clients range from small business owners to anyone who simply has an idea for a new product or service and needs help getting started.
Formed in 1984, SLO SCORE celebrates its 32nd anniversary in 2016. Its volunteers have counseled more than 7,500 clients, helped create hundreds of new businesses in the area and fostered the growth of hundreds more. Last year the nonprofit met with 278 new clients, and held 336 mentoring sessions. More than 540 people attended nearly 40 workshops. For more information visit SanLuisObispo.SCORE.org.