TranslatePublished January 06, 2022
CHARLOTTE, N.C.--- SCORE Charlotte awarded its highest honor, the prestigious “Dick O’Brien Award” for 2021 to Juliette Weiland in recognition of her over six years of exemplary volunteer service since joining SCORE Charlotte in October 2015, including two years as Chapter President from 2019 and 2020 and before that Vice President of Marketing and Vice President of Education. She also spent most of the six years at SCORE Charlotte on the Board of Directors. Weiland is a resident of Waxhaw, NC.
The “Dick O’Brien Award” was presented at SCORE Charlotte’s annual Holiday Event held remotely via Zoom by Danny Fischer and Helen Ruth “HR” Harwell, SCORE Charlotte President Co-Chairs. Special guests for the evening’s celebration were Cathy Walton of Memphis, TN, SCORE SE Regional Vice President; Jim Poppe, of Wilmington, NC, SCORE District Director for North Carolina; and Jim Weiland, Assistant District Director of Charlotte NC.
The “Dick O’Brien Award” is SCORE Charlotte’s top recognition of a chapter member for exemplary volunteer service. It has been awarded annually since 2005 and is named for Dick O’Brien, a former Chapter Chair who volunteered tirelessly to help entrepreneurs, small businesses and non-profits achieve success. O’Brien passed away in 2005.
“This year’s recipient is a woman who has led our chapter through two of its toughest years and major transitions in technology and virtual world,” noted Harwell. “She is always assisting SCORE Charlotte in outreach and special projects such as Beattie’s Ford Road Corridor Project and community service activities, events, and other SCORE Charlotte activities behind the scenes.”
Harwell noted that in 2021, she mentored 24 clients, 16 of which were follow-ons, and amassed an impressive 102 sessions for over 136 mentoring hours.
A volunteer organization consisting of active retired, or semi-retired business executives and business owners, SCORE Charlotte was formed in 1965 as the 47th Chapter of SCORE National based in Hendron, VA, a suburb of Washington, D. C. It is one of over 320 chapters nationwide with over 11,000 Certified SCORE members. Due to the coronavirus, SCORE Charlotte as well as other chapters nationwide have set up remote mentoring sessions via phone, e-mail, and videos such as Zoom for its new and existing clients, small business owners, or those wanting to start up, expand or re-open an existing business.
JULIETTE WEILAND HONORED WITH DICK O'BRIEN AWARD
SCORE Charlotte consists of 93 active, retired, and semi-retired men and women and is a resource partner of the SBA (Small Business Administration). Its offices are located within the SBA offices in Charlotte’s South Park area.
For SCORE Charlotte’s fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, SCORE Charlotte served over 1,500 unique clients in almost 2,700 individual sessions and held over 120 workshops attended by over 1,800 attendees throughout its 13 county North Carolina area and 3 county South Carolina area.
Weiland Native of Minnesota
A native of Princeton, MN just north of Minneapolis, Weiland received a Bachelor of Science Degree in English and French from the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities and an MBA in Business Marketing from the University of Phoenix.
Before joining SCORE Charlotte, in 1996 Weiland was President of her own company specializing in public relations, media relations, community outreach, branding, and marketing communications for non-profits and small businesses, especially start-ups. Before that, she worked for a non-profit health care organization as director of public relations and marketing.
Weiland is an active member of the Public Relations Society of America, National Federation of Press Women, North Carolina Press Club, Charlotte Writers Club, and the Connecticut Press Club where she is a life member.
“I struck gold in being paired with Juliette Weiland as my mentor,” noted one of her clients in a chapter survey. “Her wealth of knowledge, commitment to the project as demonstrated through her research and references, and her professionalism coupled with good humor have kept me accountable and growing as she helped me navigate the multiple layers of starting and sustaining a business.”
Another client said that Juliette has been amazing. “She has helped me tremendously with ideas, moral support, and resources and reassures me that I am on the right path in my business.”
About SCORE Charlotte
Besides free mentoring, SCORE Charlotte members serve as SCORE Ambassadors and participate as speakers at business trade shows and events in the Charlotte Region. SCORE Charlotte also sponsors free and low-cost workshops such as Simple Steps in Starting Your Business throughout the year plus numerous problem-solving seminars on how to start a business or deal with business growth.
According to the SCORE Foundation, in 2020 SCORE Charlotte helped 729 new businesses get started. The SCORE Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the national SCORE organization. That year, SCORE Charlotte volunteers conducted 4,262 free engagements.
As a result, 1,254 non-owner jobs were created within the Charlotte Region. Of SCORE clients in 2020, 60% were women, 46% were minorities, and 10% were veterans, according to the Foundation.
SCORE Charlotte serves clients in 13 counties in North Carolina (Mecklenburg, Gaston, Cleveland, Cabarrus, Stanly, Lincoln, Catawba, Caldwell, Alexander, Iredell, Rowan, Union, and Anson) and three counties in South Carolina (York, Chester, and Lancaster).
Small businesses that want to talk or be assigned a SCORE Charlotte mentor can do so by downloading a “Mentor Request Form” found on our web sites www.Charlotte.SCORE.org
or www.score.org.
For more information on SCORE Charlotte services or to volunteer as a mentor, go to www.charlotte.score.org, call 704-344-6576, or e-mail charlottescore47@cltscore.org.
