SCORE offers free advice to businesses in the area

SALISBURY — For business owners in need of real-world, individualized advice to bolster one or more aspects of their ventures — or for people who are toying with the idea of starting a business — there is good news.

For all residents and area small business owners who have a question about starting or operating a business, expert advice is available free of charge from the SCORE organization. 

When Mark and Lauren Trager moved permanently to the area in 2012, bringing their successful New York City business, TwoTwelve Consulting, along with them, they spoke at Salisbury’s Scoville Library in April of that year and were the subject of a Lakeville Journal article on how to run a small business stemming from that library talk. 

For the past seven years they have both been volunteering as SCORE representatives, along with about 20 others in the region.

When they first arrived, the Tragers said that they set out to help their community as a driving principle. “Once we moved here, we wanted to give back,” Lauren Trager said during a conversation on Wednesday, Jan. 27. That desire to serve their community eventually led the Tragers to become SCORE volunteers.

“They can recognize a problem and then suggest how to fix it,” said Lauren Trager about SCORE services and how SCORE mentors can help.

“You could be the best pizza maker in town and not know how to run a business,” she observed, as just one type of entrepreneur who could benefit from guidance. During her career she has helped more than 125 small businesses get started. Her husband’s career has been in financial management and business building.

SCORE consultants work with nonprofit organizations, private companies and entrepreneurs, Trager said.

“We are looking for more volunteers,” Trager noted, adding that the volunteer executives are an “impressive group.” She said that she and her husband enjoy the company of a variety of businesspeople, some fully retired, some semi-retired, and some at the height of their careers. 

Before COVID-19, she said that the group enjoyed frequent get-togethers, which they look forward to resuming.

Information about serving as a SCORE volunteer is found on the SCORE website as is information about scheduling an appointment with a consultant.

Through the regional office in Torrington, SCORE is eager to get the word out that its services are available. The organization offers an expanding network of business executives in the area, experienced and glad to provide problem-solving advice.

Although the service has been available throughout the U.S. since 1964, Northwest Corner towns have not seen activity commensurate with the high level of expertise that is available.  

And, particularly since the pandemic set in, businesses here are facing dire challenges. 

But there is also opportunity now, and residents who are unemployed or underemployed may have talents that could be turned into part-time or full-time businesses.

SCORE is a network of approved business owners and executives who can help with the basics of starting a business and, once it’s launched, can offer help with financial structure and give advice on operations, time management and employee management. Inventory controls are an important aspect of business management. So is attracting and keeping customers. Whatever the need is, a SCORE consultant can address it.

SCORE services are free and confidential. Consultants are offering their expertise at no cost to all new and existing businesses. During the pandemic, SCORE consultations can be done by phone, email or on Zoom.

For refreshers and continuing online help, SCORE also offers workshops and seminars, as well as templates of common business documents, all at no cost. This help is found on their website.  For more information about SCORE in general, its opportunities and its offerings, go to www.SCORE.org.