Several groups are pushing the U.S. Senate to pass a bill that seeks to overhaul the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) program.
The SCORE Act (S. 1896), introduced back in June by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), seeks to revamp the SCORE program, a nonprofit organization of volunteer, expert business mentors dedicated to helping small businesses grow. However, said Ernst, the program been plagued by poor performance, waste, and ongoing failures to reach women-owned entrepreneurs and small businesses in rural America.
For starters, the bill would change the acronym of the current Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) program and replace it with Supporting Coaching Opportunities for Resilient Entrepreneurs (SCORE). Among other changes it would:
• Retool mentors as coaches and establish a coaching certification program, which intends to ensure that all coaches have a knowledge of modern business practices and e-commerce;
• Expand online counseling services, including webinars and online toolkits to support entrepreneurs;
• Ensure coaches and employees undergo annual performance reviews, with action required in the event they fail to meet performance standards;
• Require the current SCORE cooperative agreement to be recompeted every five years to ensure the contract awardee is an organization to provide business training to individuals in both rural and urban areas;
• Form the National Women’s Business Coaches (NWBC), which would oversee a “Coach-Match Program” to pair individuals with appropriate SCORE coaches through online and in-person events;
• Examine how well SCORE is serving rural communities through a GAO study to identify rural SCORE chapters and to examine the efficacy of performance standards;
• Diversify the SCORE program by recruiting women business leaders to join SCORE as coaches; and,
• Sunset the SCORE program four years after enactment, subjecting it to reauthorization thereafter.
Since June, small business groups representing more than 477,600 small business owners and entrepreneurs have called on Congress to consider the SCORE Act. One of them is the Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC).
“Through these simple changes, Congress can build on the successful legacy of the SCORE program and unlock its full potential,” Corinne Goble, CEO of AWCB, wrote to Ernst.
The U.S. Black Chambers also offered its support.
“On behalf of the U.S. Black Chamber, Inc. and the more than 3 million small Black-owned businesses nationwide, we are writing to express our strong support for S.1896 the SCORE Act of 2023. By moving the Small Business Administration’s existing SCORE program to a competitive grant structure, while improving and modernizing the coaching model and other components, this legislation will help ensure the next generation of Black entrepreneurs have the tools they need to start and grow their businesses,” Ron Busby, president of U.S. Black Chambers, wrote to Ernst.
In addition, the 65,000-member National Small Business Association (NSBA) endorsed the bill.
“The NSBA supports this important work and believes the changes included in the SCORE Act of 2023 will help ensure the program can have an even greater impact,” Todd McCracken and Reed Westcott of the NSBA wrote.