SCORE Bucks County Chairwoman Linda Zangrilli said she hopes
to welcome NAWBO members into the chapter as subject matter experts leading
workshops and webinars, or as certified mentors guiding the chapter’s clients
in their business ventures.
“That would be a win-win,” Zangrilli said. “It’s good to have
an alliance with another women’s group.”
As part of the partnership, members of SCORE Bucks would
receive discounts on NAWBO events. SCORE would also offer discounted event
admission to NAWBO members.
Of SCORE Bucks County’s 51 active mentors, eight are female.
Three more women are in training to become SCORE mentors, according to
Zangrilli, who is committed to bringing more diversity into the chapter. She
estimated that 80 percent of the chapter’s business clients are women.
“A lot of times they like to have a woman mentor,” said
Zangrilli, who became the chapter’s first-ever female chairwoman in 2020 and
chose three other female SCORE members to serve on the chapter’s executive
committee.
According to the
Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center, woman-owned businesses are continuing
to grow. As of 2014, more than 9 million firms were women-owned, employing an
additional 7.9 million people, and generating $1.4 trillion dollars in sales.
Firms owned by women account for 30 percent of all privately held firms,
according to the state’s Small Business Development Center.
In Bucks County, many of SCORE’s women clients are solopreneurs
or owners of companies with only a few employees, according to Zangrilli. On
the other hand, businesses owned by the more than 10 million NAWBO members
throughout the U.S., “are larger than the average women-owned businesses in
terms of number of employees,” according to the
organization’s Website.
“NAWBO is a step up for a lot of women entrepreneurs,”
Zangrilli said. “It might inspire (Bucks County women-owned businesses) to grow
their business a little bit further.”
About SCORE
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more
than 8.5 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE
provides small business mentoring and workshops to more than 375,000
new and growing small businesses.?With 50 members across the
county, SCORE Bucks?County?provides over 1,500 free
mentoring services annually to local small business owners
through one-on-one counseling and small business seminars. To stay up to
date on news and happenings, join SCORE Bucks County’s email list. Text
SCOREBUCKS to 22828.
