Mentoring group tries to help biz, not itself

It was a seemingly counterintuitive statement, coming from someone who mentors businesses.

“We’re not here to make money,” said Paul Gross of Palm Beach SCORE.

He and Irene Dec are the incoming co-chairs of Palm Beach SCORE, the business- mentoring group based in West Palm Beach.

Demand for SCORE’s services is booming. People are seeking out the nonprofifit for advice, tutoring and mentoring. In 2016 alone, Palm Beach County’s SCORE chapter played a mentoring role in launching 250 businesses led by entrepreneurs striking out on their own. Those new enterprises then hired 260 employees to help them grow.

SCORE also held workshops on all kinds of issues, from marketing to fifinance to human resources to strategic communications, attended by 1,000 small-business owners. They also hosted close to 2,200 oneon-one mentoring sessions with people in business.

Part of the reason is more people are moving to the county and that means more people in business. Also, the Great Recession left so many people unemployed they had no choice but to strike out on their own. And part of it is people simply want to run their own business.

“There’s so much demand from people wanting to be entrepreneurs,” said Gross. “This has been ongoing for a long time. It’s like a hidden thing. It’s been somewhat under the surface. It’s just that it’s now being recognized.”

In fact, Gross said that in any given month SCORE is contacted by anywhere from 45 to 60 people looking to get mentored in business. The chapter counts on roughly 60 volunteers to help their clients.

“We’re always looking for volunteers that bring business expertise and knowledge,” Dec said. “We’re always looking for talent to help mentor.”

The requests come in all forms and with all sorts of business plans. There’s the ex-professional football player getting into the fifitness business, the company selling chocolate- stuffffffffffffed marshmallows and the entrepreneur managing a food truck.

Half of the clients, Gross said, are people starting their own enterprise. The other half is composed of established businesses — individuals who’ve been running their company for two to three years and want to take it to the next level.

SCORE helps basically by providing one-on-one mentoring, sometimes in the form of a quasi-board of directors, or by offffffffffffering classes on all kinds of topics.

That said, SCORE is a nonprofifit. To keep an arms’ length independence and avoid conflflicts of interest, mentors do not invest in the companies they assist, nor do they take jobs in them or otherwise become entangled in them. Hence, Gross’ statement that SCORE isn’t looking to make money.

“We really just want to help businesses,” said Gross. “It’s unreal the amount of talent in Palm Beach County.”