The mentors of SCORE Chapter 16 responded swiftly to the COVID-19 crisis, which closed all nonessential businesses in Lancaster and Lebanon counties. An idea that was created from an offer of co-mentor support by SCORE mentor Steve Darby was later augmented through the talents of mentor subject matter experts Lou Davenport and Rich Bidgood. This led to the creation of a COVID-19 Emergency Funding Mentor Support Team which was able to respond quickly and effectively to both existing clients and a steady stream of new ones.
In the month of April, the volunteer mentors of SCORE Chapter 16 offered expert guidance to clients in the small business and nonprofit communities. The chapter noted that total mentoring sessions more than doubled over those of April 2019; the number of established businesses mentored increased by 62%; eight new volunteer mentors were added in April; and Chapter 16 responded to 54 new mentor requests in April.
In addition to Darby, Davenport and Bidgood, the COVID-19 Emergency Funding Mentor Support Team includes Patrick Kameen, Kevin Saint-Cyr, William Regitz, Thomas Murphy, Keith Landis, Jim Frey, Fred Engle, Eric Parker, Hugh MacMaster, Hal Ranck, David Diffenderffer, Karen Shenk, Michael Schwartz.
For information about the latest round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding, readers may contact their current SCORE mentor or request a mentor by visiting https://core.score.org and looking for Mentoring under Business Advice. Mentoring sessions can be held via phone, email, video, and chat services.
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