SCORE history
SCORE “counselors to America’s small business” was founded in 1964 after a group of separate chapters in various cities started helping either to create small businesses or assist those small firms with problems. SCORE is affiliated with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Because the various groups mainly were made up of retired business executives, the name SCORE was adopted. It is an acronym for Service Corps of Retired Executives, and all members are volunteers.
SCORE has long had the support of the SBA and received a small allocation from the federal government. In the late ‘1960s and early ‘70s, the national organization gained a headquarters in Washington, D.C. and created a governing board of directors elected by the various chapters. Through the years, SCORE has steadily expanded into its present 389 chapters with nearly 11,000 members in all 50 states and Washington D.C.
The Northern Illinois chapter #574 was chartered in August 1988 and includes roughly the same boundaries as the 16th Illinois congressional district. It has service desks in both Belvidere and Rockford, serving more than 100 clients monthly with free counseling either on starting in business or improving their current sales, operations and profits. Also, SCORE provides a series of low-cost workshops, which concentrate on such business basics as starting up, writing business plans, marketing and funding.
Because the SBA allocation has not been more than $5 Million in the past 7 years, SCORE has created a Foundation to allow it to solicit funds from private sources such as businesses, other foundations, its own members and other individuals who support encouraging small business.
Each year, national SCORE chooses a chapter of the year. In June 1996, the northern Illinois chapter received this honor. The local chapter has four times been named the Illinois state chapter of the year. The local chapter also has had two national board directors: Ted Cowen of Belvidere and Duncan Brown of Rockford. Both have served as chapter chairs and Illinois district directors. Membership in the local chapter has varied between 30 and 50 annually.
Current officers of the northern Illinois chapter are Jim Dehler, chair; Tom Mann and Marion Wilke, vice chairs; Art Pulford, secretary; and Bob Christianson, treasurer.
