Karen Moore, publisher of Southwest Florida Business Today, recently spoke with Eileen Buchanan from the Southwest Florida chapter of SCORE, a small business mentoring and counseling service.
Buchanan first described specifically what SCORE does as an organization.
"SCORE is an organization of over 10,000 volunteers across the country. It's made-up primarily of current or former business owners and retired business executives," she said. "Our mission is to foster vibrant small business communities through mentoring and education. To that end, we offer free, confidential mentoring and workshops to entrepreneurs and small business owners."
Buchanan spoke about a timely and important program to many Southwest Florida small business owners.
"Our Southwest Florida score chapter, which is located in Fort Myers, has partnered with the Lee County Economic Development Office to support the American Rescue Plan Act. It's also known as ARPA now as part of that plan, Lee County has allocated funds for a small business resiliency grant program."
Buchanan then provided parameters and qualification for small businesses to to receive these funds.
"As a technical partner, SCORE is working with current and new plans to help them develop plans to become more resilient and grow their businesses. To qualify for grants of up to $20,000, businesses must be physically located in specifically defined low to moderate income areas in Lee County. They must have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. They must have a plan that demonstrates resiliency and be recommended by one of the partners like SCORE to receive the funding."
Additional documents may also be required.
Buchanan said SCORE is there to help however they can.
"In the process of identifying candidates who qualify for this program, we're working with businesses to develop their resiliency plan. We want to continue to mentor them as they become more resilient and grow their business. Our only goal is to help small businesses in our community be successful," she said.
Learn more about SCORE in Southwest Florida.
Read more from Karen Moore is a contributing partner for WGCU and the publisher of SWFL Business Today.
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