SCORE South Carolina District

Create an Awards program run throughout the State of South Carolina using the infrastructure SCORE has in place in the State.  SCORE has six (6) chapters which collectively cover the State.  These chapters currently provide mentoring and workshop services which support Small Business development and growth.  Through these free services, Small Business owners learn how to; create business plans, seek financing from available institutions on both the local, state and federal level, successfully run their businesses, and meet challenges that come with small business ownership. 

The SCORE Chapters in South Carolina collectively have over 325 volunteers with extensive business experience.  They receive training and agree to a stringent code of ethics which guide them in supporting small business owners.  The South Carolina District is overseen by a District Director who reports to the Southeast Regional Vice President of SCORE.

The proposed program will focus on women and minority groups and will be designed to do the following:

1. Encourage entrepreneurs looking to start or further develop their business by seeking support from a certified mentor
2. Encourage entrepreneurs to further focus on the development of their business by focusing on the creation of a business plan
3. Encourage entrepreneurs to attend workshops to help them in specific areas that will ultimately define their business success
4. Focus on underserved communities that have often not been the focus of these services
5. Provide financial support through 50 Awards given to minority and female owned (at least 51%) businesses kick-starting the businesses in these underserved communities. 

SCORE has provided support to small businesses in South Carolina for over 50 years. Each year SC chapters help start over 800 new businesses and create over 1,250 non-owner jobs.  The six chapters in SC provide over 14,500 services annually to current and future entrepreneurs.  Those services include mentoring for new business owners in establishing their plan, seeking funding, and on-going direction when they begin executing those plans.  In South Carolina it is clear that rural and minority owned business is not receiving these services at the same rate as other groups.  This program is designed to focus on these underserved communities and spark small business growth from among this underserved group.

Studies show that businesses that receive more than three hours of mentoring report higher revenues and increased business growth.  Volunteers of SCORE in South Carolina provide extensive programs of webinars and workshops that bring critical information to new and existing small business owners on subjects that support their development and growth. Ensuring access for minorities and women for these services will be the critical goal of this program.

South Carolina research conducted annually for SCORE by PWC:

• 85% of clients recommend SCORE to family and friends
• 82% of ‘in-business’ SCORE clients were still in business 12 months later
• 75% of clients confirmed SCORE helped them with their business

The same survey showed that in South Carolina the current client mix highlights the opportunity among women and minorities:

• 65% women
• 42% African American
• 10% other minorities 9% veterans

This program will be focused on minority and women current and future business owners.  It will not only provide financial support to many of these businesses but also focus these businesses on the resources available to them from SCORE.  By increasing the awareness and use of our volunteer network by these businesses, it will increase not only the chance of success of that business but also help new businesses get started in these underserved areas.  

Score mentors will help entrepreneurs create the business plan and financial documents which can support an application to a financial institution for funding.  Local SCORE mentors can help steer entrepreneurs to sources for funding through resources from the SBA.  These are key factors for minority and women owned businesses that are seeking start-up or expansion funding.  

82% of new businesses started with SCORE's support remain in business years after they began.  The national average has 33% of new businesses lasting less than two years and 50% lasting less than five years.  By changing the odds of success and providing on-going support these businesses can continue to serve their communities providing both jobs and services.  SCORE provides mentoring 'for the life of the business' so once these businesses have a relationship with a mentor, they will always have someone to support their sustainability and growth. They will also have access to the on-going educational programs that will help them further develop as business leaders.

The population of South Carolina is both diversified and spread out over 46 counties.  The state population is 33% minority and over 51% female.  Over 40% of US businesses are women owned and over 60% of the new women owned businesses are started by minority women.  That statistic holds true in South Carolina.  Over 29% of South Carolina residents live in rural parts of the state underserved by SCORE services.  

This solution is designed to focus on bringing the services of SCORE to the minority and women who either own or are planning to start a small business.  This Awards program:

1. promotes and ensures that these minority and women entrepreneurs are aware of SCORE's free services 
2. encourages through the financial incentive of a potential award that these minority and women entrepreneurs avail themselves of the SCORE services for the creation of the plans they will use to seek funding from financial institutions 
3. provide on-going support through the SCORE 'life of the business' approach to mentoring in order to help ensure the on-going success of the business
4. makes financial support through the Awards ($3,500 per award for up to 50 awards) available to the winning applications (applications will be judged by a committee of local community leaders)

The program takes advantage of existing SCORE infrastructure in the state to quickly focus on minority and women entrepreneurs who have recently started businesses or plan to start one within the next six months.  This focus will ensure the funds are used for both business and job creation.  By using local community leaders as judges for the awards, these leaders will become very aware of the new businesses and these minority and women entrepreneurs.  They will also have a vested interest in their stories and success and will help drive the participants success.

Two of the chapters in South Carolina have previously done similar programs. 

This is similar to a program introduced by SCORE Charleston through a grant from Truist (Sun Trust). It has been replicated by SCORE Lowcountry chapter. This chapter of SCORE in South Carolina serves the area around Hilton Head and Beauford.  The Lowcountry version of the award program was funded by several banks and local institutions including Truist.    

The program has provided a number of awards to minority and women owned small businesses using a model similar to what is proposed in this application. As we have refined the program, we have seen the benefit to the entrepreneurs who applied as well as those who received awards.  That is what has become a unique feature of this program. 

SCORE’s mission is to foster vibrant small business communities through mentoring and education.

SCORE is a uniquely American organization that synthesizes two historic national ideals: entrepreneurial spirit and volunteerism. One of our core values is, “Diversity Matters.” This means that SCORE believes in the importance, value, and power of diversity – diversity of people and diversity of thought.

Since 1964, SCORE has provided expert volunteer mentoring to more than 11 million entrepreneurs and small business owners. As the nation’s largest network of volunteer business mentors, SCORE is committed to helping any person succeed in their small business endeavor.

This is one comment on Lowcountry program:

"This grant revealed a great need for capital and business operational support among minority business owners. With additional funding, this program can produce sustainable startup businesses which can grow and scale" Sharee E. Darien, CPDC Executive Director & Founder, Second Chance Community Outreach, Inc.

Change is not something that happens by accident.  Change is a decision that an organization makes to find what will drive the goals.  In SCORE, we have made a commitment to being a driver of change in our communities.  We provide support to help small businesses break the cycle of 'start and fail'.  At SCORE, people who have succeeded in business help small business entrepreneurs steer towards success.  The proof is in the results with SCORE supporting the growth of new businesses and small business jobs throughout the state.  

In South Carolina SCORE volunteers have supported the start of over 800 small businesses last year alone.  The clients in South Carolina are currently 65% women and over 40% minority.  This reflects a growing trend in the state and supports the need to further develop programs to serve this population.

Change is part of the SCORE DNA. We are continuously looking for new and innovative ways to support the small businesses in our areas.  In the case of South Carolina, the need to work with the various sectors of business is critical as over 99% of all business in the state is small businesses.  

We conduct annual surveys (conducted by PWC) of our volunteers and entrepreneur clients to determine if we are providing services and quality that meet their needs to create and operate successful businesses.  Last year, 86% of our entrepreneur clients in SC said they would recommend SCORE and over 79% of our in-business clients said SCORE helped them with their business.  Over 98% of SCORE volunteers indicated in our volunteer survey they are proud to be associated with SCORE.

With this environment of mutual respect and the desire to foster success, SCORE in South Carolina has conducted over 14,500 services including mentoring and workshops.  We have also worked with local financial institutions to bring qualified clients for funding and growing their businesses.  We supported the efforts of the SBA and the South Carolina Association of Community Economic Development to make services available to support growth of small minority and women owned businesses.  

We awarded 10 awards in 2021 through the solution in our Lowcountry chapter.  We are anticipating a larger award and bringing this solution to 50 businesses throughout South Carolina.  We expect these businesses to generate close to 250 non-owner jobs.  

Also, as indicated in our program outline, we expect all applying businesses to benefit from new awareness and participation in free SCORE services which can impact hundreds of additional businesses adding many more non-owner employees.  These estimates depend on the number of entrepreneurs who participate in the development of their plan for submission to the award program.  The award funds will help drive the winning business to launch (they must provide a business license to receive the award) and to grow.

Key to the success of this program is the long-term relationship between the business and their mentor.  That relationship has proven to have a direct correlation to the long-term success of the business.  This will be true with both the award winners and the award applicants.  

This program is designed to serve South Carolina minority and female entrepreneurs.  

• 36% of businesses in SC are owned by women 
• 23% of businesses in SC are owned by minorities

These statistics show the opportunity for further development of these two groups of business owners in South Carolina and represent the key target group in a state that has a 32% minority population and 52% women. This is the key focus of our awards program.

We will enlist key leaders in our local areas who will serve as members of the local advisory groups to support the selection process.  This will include:

• Bank leaders
• Community leaders both in and out of government
• Leaders of community organizations that support the mission of advancing minorities and women in leadership
• Local press (print, radio, TV)

The goal is to both raise awareness and provide a vehicle for shared goals supporting the program objectives.

While this program is contemplated as a statewide opportunity in South Carolina, it is rooted in the local opportunities presented by the use of the local chapters of SCORE.

Each chapter will create a local ADVISOR COUNCIL which will provide support to the objectives of the Award.  The objectives for minority and female entrepreneurs locally will be:

• creation of awareness of the free services made available by SCORE
• the opportunity to support business success by taking full advantage of SCORE's resources
• the opportunity for the award to support the creation of a new business or the further development of an existing business

SCORE South Carolina District has six chapters covering the various and diverse parts of the State.  While over 50% of white owned businesses are approved for loans, generally only 22% of Black owned businesses are approved.  The various chapters in SC work closely with the SBA, small micro lenders, and the large banks in the State to try and provide a diverse set of options for local owners to receive the funding they need.  Our work through mentoring increases those chances of success.  

The local nature of the chapters allows for extensive local partnering with various local organizations including Chambers of Commerce, local media, local municipalities and local civic organizations.  These relationships allow SCORE to be seen as a key resource for developing the small business environment in our service areas.

SCORE Chapters have extensive relationships with the communities served in their service areas. By having six local chapters, each can focus on building local relationships throughout the state. This Chapter approach has served the South Carolina's diverse markets providing the expertise needed for the local small businesses and future entrepreneurs.

The chapter leadership team regularly meets with local organizations including:

• Municipality Leadership
• Chambers of Commerce
• Civic Organizations (Rotary, Lions Club, etc.)
• Non-profit community support organizations

These relationships support the recruiting of volunteers and local entrepreneur clients. These opportunities allow SCORE chapters to recognize the volunteers and highlight the work done by the chapter to support small business in their area. These meetings and information exchange provide a high level of credibility in the local communities and allow communities to look to SCORE as a key resource in their development plans. It also serves to reinforce SCORE to local business leaders.

SCORE believes that anyone can start a small business with the right support. SCORE also knows that the road is harder for some than for others. SCORE for All is the bridge that makes the journey to success more direct and sure-footed for entrepreneurs who need more support.

Diverse backgrounds, different voices and unique needs may call for specialized resources or a personalized approach in mentoring.  SCORE is listening, recognizes and fulfills these diverse needs in a wholly inclusive platform called SCORE for All. 

The South Carolina District is focused on leveraging the resources of the various chapters in the State to provide a wide range of workshops and mentoring expertise.  While all mentors are trained to provide first level support for new and current entrepreneurs, each business may require additional input from a professional that has the unique experience in a related field.  To that end, our mentors have the ability to search and find support mentors/subject-matter-experts who can further support that client's needs. South Carolina takes a two-pronged approach...

• LOCAL Experience
• SUBJECT MATTER experience

With this approach, every client will get all the information they need from our volunteer network.  

Using the proposed AWARD, the South Carolina District hopes to highlight this opportunity for entrepreneurs while also providing a kick-start to ensure the long-term success of the businesses in the State. This support actively achieves our goal of being a support 'for the life of the business'.

SCORE has the largest network of free volunteer small business mentors in the nation. No matter what stage the business is at SCORE has a mentor to support that business. Our amazing team of volunteer mentors has helped entrepreneurs navigate through all stages of their businesses, especially through difficult times. 

Nationally in 2021, SCORE mentors helped start 25,084 businesses and create 71,475 non-owner new jobs and 96,559 total new jobs. Locally the numbers are equally impressive.  SCORE mentors are in the community and represent a cross section of business experience.  

Each chapter's leadership are volunteers who have mentored and supported small businesses in their community through their work with SCORE.  They understand the needs of the community and have interacted extensively with local community leaders to be sure they are providing the services local small businesses need.

The activities of each chapter are guided by the volunteers within the chapter.  They decide how best to communicate and serve the small business community in their area.  It is different in each chapter but unique to the needs of their community.  What is the same, is the methods used (through SCORE's mentor certification program).  That program provides a level of quality and a backbone of understanding of the role of the mentor in supporting a small business.  The support of the National organization infrastructure helps the local chapters focus on what is most important in their community. 

We have worked closely with Truist in the past to fund exciting new programs at SCORE in South Carolina.  Truist has provided support to similar programs in Charleston and Lowcountry (Hilton Head) chapters of SCORE.  The success of these programs has led to the desire to see the programs expand throughout South Carolina.  These programs have proven that a partnership with Truist provides a strong synergy.  As a major lender in the State Truist and SCORE provide support to the same base of small businesses in the State.  This synergistic relationship is a key reason we continue to focus on working with Truist.  The awards are a significant step in helping minority and women owned small businesses get started and focused with the support of a SCORE mentor and access to all the tools available through SCORE.

Beside the award program, similar to the application, Truist grants have supported the creation of a booklet used in several markets to provide needed information to small businesses as they move through the journey of development.  These grants have also supported the recruiting of both volunteers and clients.  

In all cases, the support of Truist is appropriately highlighted.  These highlights have included acknowledgments in printed materials, on presentations and in meetings.  

SCORE SC chapters have also worked with the Lending Officers in Truist to provide training and support for them and consequently training for their clients.  This training has led to new volunteers, new clients and loans secured for clients.  

SCORE can always use the support of the community in developing the mentor volunteers.  SCORE in SC already has over 300 mentors in its six chapters.  We continually see the need for more volunteers due to the volume of client requests being fielded by the organization.  

As stated throughout this application, the goal is to support minority and women entrepreneurs by leveraging the activities currently in the South Carolina market.  The outcome of this partnership will:

1. Help highlight the SCORE services to current and potential entrepreneurs in the market
2. Help focus the SCORE efforts among the underserved minority and women in our service area
3. Support the involvement of community leaders in the SCORE process through their involvement in the awards program
4. Provide financial awards and incentives to steer current and near future businesses towards support which will help ensure not only their short-term but also mid-term success
5. Provide financial kick-starts that can drive the launch and success of new small businesses or the growth of current small businesses
6. Drive new interest in the community for volunteers to support small business through the SCORE program
7. Serve as a state-wide model for development of minority and female owned small businesses

This is a lot of 'bang for the buck' in that these many goals can be supported by a single awards program.  With the infrastructure of SCORE in place through the six chapters, achieving all these various goals is possible.

In the past we have turned to local service organizations as a source of new volunteers.  We have also worked with the local chambers of commerce and community development organizations.  These groups all share the goal of serving underserved groups and also want to see small business thrive in their communities. 

We believe that using community leaders to help with the awards portion of the program will help drive these connections.  

Here are just some we have worked with in the past:

• local banks
• Local chambers of commerce
• Lions Club
• Rotary Club
• Community redevelopment groups
• Local elected leaders
• State groups focused on minority and women development
• State small business and agriculture groups
• Veterans' groups