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Volunteer SCORE Mentors: Here to Empower Entrepreneurs
by Giselle Aguiar
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December 19, 2022
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April is National Volunteer Month. SCORE wouldn't exist without its dedicated volunteers who offer their time to share their business expertise. They've been there, done that. They know what works and what doesn't work. 

 


 

"One person can make a difference."

"I do what I do because watching other people succeed gives me great joy."

Here in SCORE Greater Phoenix, we have several mentors who are retired or semi-retired, some still running businesses while donating some of their time, knowledge, wisdom and guidance -- FREE -- to small business owners at all stages of growth. 

Many business people aren't ready to retire yet.

 

Some have retired and need an "active project" as one of our "snowbird" mentors, Bill Wheeler puts it. He's from Southeast Massachusetts and is co-mentoring with a local mentor in Scottsdale. 

One of our newer volunteers is Pete Meir who not only mentors, but serves on the Marketing Team for the chapter.

"I believe a SCORE mentor is similar to my most important roles in the business world. 

As a manager on a local, regional, and national level, my role was to help people arrive at solutions to issues and problems through their own self-examination. Only then can they truly benefit from a mentor as a manager. As a father of two successful sons, I have been an advocate, a sounding board, and a counselor. In both, my role was to work my way out of a job, by preparing the people on my team (or my sons) for life without me. So they could accomplish on their own!  
"As a SCORE mentor, my role is to help the mentee become equipped to manage success (and sometimes failure) on their own. Hopefully, to become a mentor themselves someday.   
"As a mentor, every opportunity to interact is a success story, because it helps the mentee to decide the actions to move the needle to success or to determine when they should move on. Mentors do not always deliver good news, they do always help the mentee look in the mirror  and determine where they are, how they got there and ultimately where they are going!"

Another mentor, Steve Engelhardt, whose now in leadership at our District, says:

"I found SCORE and it has allowed me to not only get back to business, it is the most rewarding thing I have ever done.

 
"I think my favorite client is a veterinarian tech who invented a great product that will greatly ease the work of vets, vet techs and greatly ease the stress and trauma to pets. The original intention of the inventor was to manufacture and sell it themselves. But, setting up manufacturing and a sales method or organization would have been prohibitive regarding money and time. We decided the best method was to seek distribution. The product was patented and very needed in the vet industry. It was obvious that the biggest issue was the need for very, very rapid roll out. We also wanted to avoid offshore manufacturing to help protect the patent.
"We chose a national vet show to attend and took the prototype. We quickly found a large national vet distribution business with manufacturing facilities in the US. They were excited to not only license the patent but also pay a very generous royalty. In addition then agreed to take on any legal defense of the patent and also pay for and execute a national and international trademark.
"This distribution deal will allow the inventor to collect royalties and dream of the “next big thing” instead of trying to do all the the work themselves." 

Steve is also, one of our many veterans who continue to serve by volunteering at SCORE. 

This next video shows actual SCORE client testimonials: 

 

 

Are you retired or semi-retired and wish to share your knowledge, expertise and wisdom with today’s entrepreneurs? Then click here to volunteer! 

 

 

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About the author
Giselle Aguiar, AZ Social Media Wiz
Giselle Aguiar
Giselle Aguiar, founder of AZ Social Media Wiz is a social media, content & digital marketing consultant & trainer. She specializes in SEO keyword and market research, strategic planning, search engine optimization (SEO), copywriting, social media setups, training and coaching.
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In Memoriam: Roger S. Robinson Ph.D. (1927-2019)

On March 15, 2019, Greater Phoenix SCORE lost one of its beloved mentors, contributors and instructors, Roger S. Robinson. He volunteered his extensive business knowledge for SCORE for 20 years. 

Roger was born in Detroit, Michigan. He enlisted in the Navy in 1944 and was given the opportunity to serve in V-12 program at Harvard. He served 1.4 yrs active duty and 3 years Naval Reserve where he's inactive with a rank of AZ USNR. (He was honored along with other SCORE mentors who served in the military in this article.)

For over 50 years, following time in the Navy and graduation from

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