ULV to SCORE for small-business owners

by Adrian Medrano
Staff Writer

“How do I advertise my product? How much money do I need? How many employees should I hire?”

These are a few of the many questions that small-business owners have.

Now these small-time entrepreneurs have help to answer these difficult questions.

The Service Corp of Retired Executives, or SCORE, has recently teamed up with the University of La Verne to aid small businesses in the San Gabriel Valley and Western Inland Empire region and develop an office adjacent to the ULV campus.

The D Street office operates as a branch of SCORE Orange County.

SCORE is a non-profit organization that provides free counseling to any small-business owner in the area.

The goal of SCORE is to expand the minds of entrepreneurs’ nationwide.

“Many small-business owners have a good widget, but they don’t have some of the necessary resources,” said Charles Bentley, ULV spokesman.

SCORE volunteers consist of working and retired business owners, executives and professionals.

They donate their time as mentors to small business owners.

The volunteers have a large amount experience in accounting and finance, marketing and sales, international trade and many other areas.

“A lot of business owners have problems with marketing and bookkeeping,” Bentley said.

SCORE focuses its efforts on small businesses due to the fact that they do not have the luxury of multi-resources that large corporations possess.

Small businesses in the San Gabriel Valley and Western Inland Empire play an important role in the economy.

“Small businesses make up a large share of the business establishments in this region,” said Gordon Badovick, dean of ULV’s College of Business and Public Management.

“Our college’s strategic plan includes providing greater service and support to area businesses. We look forward to a long and rewarding alliance.”

One of the rewards likely to come from this alliance is internship opportunities for ULV students.

After these entrepreneurs receive help from ULV, they may be interested in providing internships to the school’s students.

ULV also hopes to gain future donations from those who have been helped by SCORE.

This is the first branch of the Orange County 114 Chapter in the La Verne area.

The chapter has been SCORE National Chapter of the year in 1998 and in 2002.

For more information on SCORE, call (909) 593-3511 ext. 4564.