SCORE office to open in Lincoln on Tuesday

[November 05, 2009]  A new, local SCORE office will have ribbon-cutting ceremonies and an open house at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The event will be at 300 S. Kickapoo, on the second floor of the Coldwell Banker Devonshire building. SCORE offers free and confidential counseling to anyone seeking to start a small business in Lincoln and Logan County. The same services will be offered without charge to existing businesses.

"Business retention is very important to the strength of the community and the continuing success of the program," said Joel Smiley, executive director of the Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership.

"While we welcome and are committed to new businesses, we recognize the ongoing importance of our existing businesses," Smiley said.

Smiley, along with Sonnie Alexander of Coldwell Banker Devonshire Realty and Ed Dowling, a retired businessman, serve as the nucleus to bring a SCORE presence to Lincoln. Through cooperation with the Springfield SCORE office, Alexander and Dowling have joined the nationally recognized SCORE organization. There are more than 10,000 SCORE counselors in some 400 chapters in the nation. Together, they served some 375,000 clients last year.

SCORE has agreed to partner with the Center of Success, the Logan County business incubator program.

SCORE is a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership is the economic development agency for Logan County.

To make arrangements for counseling appointments, call 217-732-8739.

[Text from file received from Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership]