"Nothing limits achievement like small thinking; nothing expands possibilities like unleashed imagination." - William Arthur Ward
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Small Business Achievement Award Winners Honored at the Awards Luncheon on May 22, 2014
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Chester County SCORE hosted its fourth annual Small Business Achievement Awards Luncheon on May 22, 2014 at West Chester University's Graduate Center in West Chester, PA. Federal, state and local elected officials, as well as educational, community and business leaders from around the county were on hand to congratulate the local small business award winners and to recognize SCORE for the valuable contributions it makes year after year to the small business community. The 2014 diverse group of winners of the Chester County SCORE's Small Business Achievement Award reached out to SCORE for mentoring and assistance in starting or growing a business and demonstrated a remarkable entrepreneurial spirit through discipline, hard work, and an unwavering commitment to success.
| aEONRG, LLC, Downingtown, PA
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Founded in 2013, aEONRG provides construction and renovation solutions, including LEED-certified government and corporate construction, renovations, environmental and renewable energy solutions, architectural and engineering services, project management and consulting. Taking social responsibility seriously, aEONERG aims to provide one-stop-shopping general contracting solutions and to help reduce the country's carbon footprint.
Founder Bill Belknap said "SCORE and specifically Frank Milheim actively listened to my start up business plan and goals, affirmed some of my directions, and challenged me to focus more directly on specific groups of customers as well as services where I would have the most success."
In March aEONRG received its 16th government contract and its largest award ever, reaching contract revenues of $982,500 since becoming operational on May 1st 2013 and doubling last year's revenues.
The company is also dedicated to helping veterans, seniors, and the environment through its social responsibility program with a percentage of their profits. The Twilight Wish Foundation, a national nonprofit founded in 2003 by Cass Forkin, Vice President of aEONRG, grants wishes to seniors, with one third of the 1,750+ wishes granted to veterans.
To find out more, read the aEONRG success story on the Chester County SCORE website and visit them online at www.aeonrg.com.
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Thomas Comitta Associates, Inc.,
West Chester, PA
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Thomas Comitta Associates, Inc. is a town planning and landscape architecture firm serving public and private clients throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland since 1981. Their team of certified planners, registered landscape architects, and LEED certified professionals has extensive experience with client-centered land planning and site design services.
In 2009, TCA had its highest revenues in its 35+ year history. In 2010, in the face of the global financial crisis, the bottom fell out of the state and regional real-estate and development industries and TCA revenue dropped significantly. Starting in early 2011 under the guidance of a Chester County SCORE advisory board, TCA cut expenses, reduced personnel and benefits, refinanced mortgages, consolidated other debt and froze non-essential operating expenses. While revenues are not back to 2009 levels, they are quickly climbing and they are on track to increase revenue by another 8-15% in 2014.
CFO Carolyn Comitta says TCA's SCORE advisors are the first call for any business question. "SCORE helped TCA survive the great recession and revamp our business model and budget for success in the new economy." SCORE is now helping TCA plan for the future, crafting scenarios for business succession, cyber security, and to update their personnel manual for the "new economy."
To find out more, read the TCA success story on the Chester County SCORE website and visit them
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Think Like a Scientist, llc,
West Chester, PA
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Think Like a Scientist! (TLAS!) was born in 2009 when a local private school began searching for a science program for their young students and partnered with two preschool teachers passionate about science, Coleen Herbst and Jodi Wooten. TLAS! opened its own location in West Chester during 2013 to offer science classes and holds private birthday parties for children ages three to six.
TLAS! met its revenue expectations for the 2013-14 school year and all its business goals. For the 2014-15 school year, TLAS! is planning to open the studio for an additional day each week and to add a new Saturday class that meets once a month for children six to eight years old, which they expect to generate significant additional revenue. Coleen Herbst and Jodi Wooten say they reached out to SCORE because "Teachers by trade we knew just how to execute our curriculum. Business folk we are not but we were eager to learn to be! We contacted SCORE and enrolled in their Grow Your Business series." TLAS! got assistance from SCORE in several areas including marketing, web planning, social media, and finance. About SCORE they say, "SCORE never fails to provide us with a business professional no matter the area of expertise. Thanks to the support of many SCORE volunteers we have developed the skills necessary to create and manage our business. SCORE continues to support us as we move forward to grow our business." To find out more, read the TLAS! success story on the Chester County SCORE website and visit them online at http://thinklikeascientistllc.com. Receiving special recognition from SCORE as
Partner of the Year was:
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La Comunidad Hispana,
Kennett Square, PA
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LCH was founded forty one years ago to serve the needs of the growing Latino population in the Southern Chester County area. LCH provides integrated health care, social and adult educational services designed to help immigrant and low income residents stay healthy, build strong families and lead productive, fulfilling lives. Each year, LCH touches the lives of over 5,000 members of their community.
Chester County SCORE's relationship with LCH has evolved over the last two years from an advisory capacity to their board to a full fledged partnership which is focused on bringing entrepreneurship and business practices to the large Latino community in Southern Chester County.
Over the last year the relationship between Chester County SCORE and LCH has led to the formation of the eight week bilingual seminar series "Business Skills for Success for Latino Entrepreneurs" offered by the Kutztown University Latino Business Resource Center in partnership with La Comunidad Hispana, National Penn Bank, and Chester County SCORE. LCH is the host and a key marketing force behind this effort.
The Fall 2013 class was the first program of this kind in Southern Chester County. The attendance tripled for the Spring 2014 program, proving the significant need for this type of education in the area. With the combined support of LBRC, Chester County SCORE, La Comunidad Hispana and other
commercial sponsors, a third session is planned to begin this September.
To find out more, read the La Comunidad Hispana success story on the Chester County SCORE website and visit them online at www.lacomunidadhispana.org.
Sponsored by:
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"The more generous we are, the more joyous we become. The more cooperative we are, the more valuable we become. The more enthusiastic we are, the more productive we become. The more serving we are, the more prosperous we become." - William Arthur Ward
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Four Chester County SCORE volunteers honored at Awards Luncheon
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From
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Jerry Glenn, Chairman of the Board of SCORE presented platinum awards to Cal Leighton, Bob Wingerter, Vic Goldberg, and Roger Fleming at the Chester County SCORE Small Business Awards Luncheon on May 22, 2014. The four members were recognized for their sustained, outstanding contributions to Chester County SCORE.
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"The problem isn't a shortage of opportunities; it's a lack of perspective." - Tim Fargo
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About SCORE
SCORE is a nonprofit, national organization of volunteer entrepreneurs and business executives applying their life experiences and knowledge to mentor individuals planning to start a small business, or small business owners who seek assistance in solving business issues and growing their business. Chester County SCORE has more than 65 experienced entrepreneurial counselors with expertise in almost every facet of business.
FInd out more about us at:
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Welcome to the Chester County SCORE newsletter!
We hope you are enjoying a prosperous year. The July edition of the newsletter is mostly dedicated to the Small Business Achievement Awards Luncheon that took place on May 22, 2014.
Consider making Chester County SCORE a trusted partner in all of your business endeavors.
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"If we all did the things we are really capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves." - Thomas Edison
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 On June 4th Chester County SCORE hosted its second networking event in West Chester at the Government Services Building. A big THANK YOU to our sponsor, Fulton Bank, and to both the Southern and Western Chester County Chambers of Commerce for partnering to promote the event! This was a fabulous opportunity for area business owners and professionals to learn more about SCORE and to meet some of our mentors and resource partners. It was also an opportunity for our guests to meet each other. This is what networking is all about - a powerful and necessary tool for businesses and nonprofits to grow. Energy and excitement filled the room as new relationships were being born. Thank you to our hosts for providing a welcoming and positive environment for our guests, and for making introductions, encouraging conversation and sharing some of SCORE's successful initiatives. Stay tuned for information on our next networking event planned for the fall! Contributed by Paula Paisley and Meryle Rothman |
"There is a thin line between the impossible and the possible - that is determination." - Ogwo David Emenike
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THE FIRST FIFTY YEARS OF SCORE
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Presented by Jerry Glenn, Chairman of the Board of SCORE at the Chester County SCORE Small Business Awards Luncheon on May 22, 2014 Today we have over 11,000 volunteers across the United States in 320 Chapters in over 1000 locations who provide free business mentoring and low cost workshops to small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. These volunteers donate over 1.1 million hours to this effort every year. We have just completed our most recent client survey conducted by Price Waterhouse Coopers. I'm delighted to tell you that in 2013, SCORE mentored and/or trained almost 125,000 individuals, held 11,000 educational workshops and assisted in starting up over 38,000 new businesses, creating over 67,000 new jobs. Our clients returned $47 to the Federal Treasury for every dollar appropriated to SCORE by the Federal Government. Our clients consisted of 56% women, 28% minorities and 12% veterans.
Enough of the numbers...how many in here know what SCORE stands for? It is an acronym for Service Corp of Retired Executives...we no longer use the full name as a third of our volunteers today are still in the workforce. About the same time as the SBA was started in 1953, in Wilmington, Delaware, a man by the name of Maurice du Pont Lee had retired from the DuPont Company at the company mandated age of 65...he did not like the prospect of going to the brain graveyard so he gathered a small group of retirees and formed the Consulting and Advisory Services, Inc. Their mission was to help small businesses in Wilmington through the sharing of their business knowledge, and by 1963 there were 50 similar organizations across the country. SBA has been inundated with requests for help from small businesses since it began, they were aware of the activities of these independent groups and saw the opportunity to bring these groups together and add thousands of volunteer counselors to help small businesses. On October 5, 1964, SCORE was officially launched by SBA, and as they say...the rest is history. During SCORE's first 50 years we have helped more than 10 million aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners. For those of you who are counting, that is an average of one client every three minutes. In this time frame we have had well over 150,000 SCORE volunteers engaged in the SCORE mission.
With all these changes, however, the basic purpose of the organization has not changed: "to provide through experienced and qualified volunteers, free business mentoring and other training to existing and prospective businesses and non-profit groups so they may increase their potential for success". We would like you to join us in our celebration of SCORE's 50th Anniversary right now, so let the celebration begin! Read the entire speech here. |
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"The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things." - Ronald Reagan
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Bilingual Mentoring Provided in Kennett Square Starting on August 7, 2014
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Chester County SCORE announces the opening of its newest business mentoring location at the Bayard Taylor Memorial Library, 216 East State Street, Kennett Square, PA 19348. SCORE's eighth mentoring location in Chester County is the first to provide mentoring both Spanish and English.
Experienced SCORE mentors will be available on Thursday mornings at the Bayard Taylor Memorial Library. Under the leadership of Director Donna Murray, the library's bilingual staff is committed to be a major educational resource for the area's fast-growing Latino population and welcomes the addition of Chester County SCORE small businesses bilingual mentoring services.
Chester County SCORE is delighted to partner with the Bayard Taylor Memorial Library to further SCORE's presence in Southern Chester County. SCORE's initial mentoring location in Kennett Square, the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce, 217 West State Street continues to be available for mentoring in English on Friday mornings.
To schedule a personal counseling session at any of our eight locations call Chester County SCORE at 610-344-6910 or visit chestercounty.score.org.
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"Do you want to live in a world where things are possible or one where they aren't?" - Léna Roy
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Congratulations to Chester County SCORE Mentee Waffatopia for the July 2014 Best of the Main Line special recognition
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"Gratitude is an opener of locked-up blessings." -Marianne Williamson
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Chester County SCORE Awards Luncheon
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County Commissioners
Kathi Cozzone,
Terrence Farrell,
Ryan Costello
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 | Bob Fedor,
President, Eastern PA and DE at SCORE,
Barbara Forslund,
Jerry Glenn
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Tom and Carolyn Comitta,
Jodi Wooten and Coleen Herbst, Cass Forkin and Bill Belknap
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Eli Silberman, Director Dave Dickson,
Philadelphia
SBA office,
Cal Leighton
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Monica Zimmerman,
Director,
Cottrell Center,
West Chester
University
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Jerry Glenn, Senator Andy Dinniman,
Steve Crumrine
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Tom Gugerty,
Citadel,
George Edwards,
Co-chairman
Chester County
SCORE
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Jerry Glenn,
Chairman of the Board, SCORE,
Jerry Francis, Co-chairman
Chester County
SCORE
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Jim Kane,
Ana Nitica, Meryle Rothman
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Horace Scherer
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Carol Lill,
DECA advisor, East HS,
Melissa Kohl,
Chester County Business Librarian
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