In the News: John Redman, chair of SCORE Buffalo Niagara
In the beginning of March, John Redman was featured in the Buffalo Business First.
In 2013, Redman was contemplating starting his own business. To get some more information, he decided to attend an educational and networking event for small-business owners known as Straight Talk. This is where he was first introduced to SCORE. Instead of starting that business, he decided to start volunteering with SCORE. He used his expertise from working at Ingram Micro on a team that delivers training and services to provide the best support to his clients.
John Redman is now the chapter chair of the Buffalo Niagara chapter where he has 82 certified mentors across an eight-county region. In 2018, the chapter served 795 people through a combination of one-on-one mentoring, workshops, events, and digital mentoring.
To see more of John's success,
click here to view the full article.
Jacksonville's Women Entrepreneurs Conference:
a Resounding Success
On February 16, 2019, SCORE Jacksonville held their first annual all-day conference entitled "Women Entrepreneurs - Growing Stronger Together!". The purpose of this conference was to provide inspiration along with the technical and emotional support women need to be successful entrepreneurs.
The response was so overwhelming that registration had to be cut off two weeks before the event. 135 attendees, exhibitors and SCORE mentors participated.
The conference combined speakers, breakout sessions and a women entrepreneurs' panel made up of SCORE clients. There were a dozen exhibitors from non-profit and governmental organizations that support women-owned businesses. In addition, a several female SCORE clients were on hand to exhibit their products and services.
The attendees were quite pleased with the conference. A survey was conducted at in which 68% of the respondents rated the program as "excellent" and another 27% rated it "very good". All of the speakers received 52% or higher "excellent" ratings.
Here are some key demographics about who attended the conference:
75% of respondents were between 35 and 64. The median age was 43.
76% operate (or plan to operate) a business from home.
58% had a business already in operation and generating revenue.
66% had attended a previous SCORE workshop.
34% already had a SCORE mentor.
Some of the verbatim comments received from the survey included:
"Awesome speakers, great forums, food & support were wonderful too."
"I think it was a great workshop/conference. Enjoyed it."
"Was very informative. Great how so many SCORE representatives/volunteers were so accessible."
"Wonderful ... I would not change a thing."
"Everything was informative and I will attend again."
"Was great ... Great people, great venue, great inspiration."
"Loved the Q&A! It was very helpful hearing from people in the same space I'm in."
SCORE Jacksonville wants to express appreciation to all who participated. Planning has already started for another women's conference in 2020 given the favorable reviews to this year's event.
