MIDLANDS SCORE HOME PAGE

Advising small businesses in the Midlands of South Carolina with counselors in:

CHAPTER MAP (COUNSELING LOCATIONS)

	Chapin				Hartsville
				Camden
			Village at Sandhill
Lexington		Columbia				Florence
			Sumter
		Orangeburg

And elsewhere throughout the Midlands by email or telephone.

Other South Carolina SCORE Chapters (Click)

COUNSELING

    We offer Free and confidential business counseling to both prospective and established small business owners and managers from volunteer counselors with extensive business experience on a non-discriminatory equal opportunity basis. SCORE services are provided without regard to race, color national origin, gender, age, and disability.
     You may make a counseling appointment in downtown Columbia (at either the Columbia Chamber or the Benedict College location) online through this web site by Clicking on the Columbia Appointments button below.
    The chapter also has eight other satellite/branch counseling locations (see chapter map above). You may make a counseling appointment at any of these locations by calling the appropriate phone number, found by clicking on the Branch Appointments button below.
     First time visitors may wish to review About SCORE and The Counseling Process before making a counseling appointment.

WORKSHOPS

We offer Free and Low-Cost workshops for both start-up and existing small business entrepreneurs. The workshops are usually held in the greater Columbia area. For a listing of workshop descriptions, workshop dates and the associated workshop registration form click on a button below.

ABOUT SCORE

    SCORE "Counselors to America's Business" is a nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur education and the formation, growth and success of small businesses. There are some 370 chapters in locations throughout the United States with over 11,000 volunteers nationwide. SCORE is a resource partner of the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
    The SCORE Midlands Chapter, headquartered in Columbia with eight satellite (branch) locations, has over 50 volunteer retired and semi-retired business professionals with a very broad mix of professional, executive and small business experience. SCORE volunteers use their expertise, energy and past experiences to help you implement proven real-world business practices in accomplishing your business objectives.
    SCORE counseling and workshops focus on such areas as developing a business plan, legal organization, financing, accounting, marketing and selling, management and human resource issues, licensing, patent protection, government reporting requirements, and many others.

The COUNSELING PROCESS

What you can expect from SCORE:

FREE personal business counseling and mentoring.
The respect and confidential advice of professional business men and women.
Practical ideas from people “who have been there” and made a success of it.
Non-confrontational discussions - like talking to trusted friends and family.
Counselors who are experts or have access to experts on business issues.
Help in defining and analyzing your needs, and then help in finding solutions.

Counseling sessions are normally one hour long. At the first session, the counselor will work to understand your business issues and then provide appropriate suggestions and guidance. Very few clients get all their answers in only one session. We will meet with you as frequently and for as long as you find meeting helpful. You can meet with a counselor (and not necessarily the same one) as often as you like for planning or any operation, management, or other business issues that may arise in the future. (We like to think of it as "free business counseling for life!")

Columbia Counseling Locations

    SCORE offers free one hour counseling sessions Monday to Friday at 9, 10, 11 am and 1, 2, 3 pm at the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce located at 930 Richland Street , (corner of Park and Richland Streets) in downtown Columbia.
    Counseling sessions are also held at the Benedict College Business Development Center (BDC) twice a month in the morning. The BDC is located at 2601 Read Street (corner of Read and Two Notch Road), in Columbia.
     Appointments for counseling at our downtown Columbia locations (Columbia Chamber & Benedict BDC) may be made online by clicking the Columbia Appointments button below. For directions to these sites click on the directions button below.

Branch/Satellite Counseling Locations

Appointments for counseling at one of our eight branch/satellite locations may be made by contacting that location directly by phone. Click on the button below for the branch location and phone number.

CONTACT US

For questions on counseling or workshops or small business issues you may contact us by email by using the Contact Us button below and filling out the form. For questions one may also phone 803-765-5131 and leave a message. Phone messages will generally be answered within the next 24 hours.
Persons with disabilities may request reasonable (special) accommodations (with two week advance notice). If you have such needs please contact Midlands SCORE at 803-765-5131 and leave message.

CHAPTER BRANCH OFFICES

The chapter branches are often associated with their local Chamber of Commerce. Counseling appointments are made or canceled at those locations by calling the phone numbers in the list below. This list shows the address and a Google Map button to provide a map and directions for each branch office.
Camden Office, located at: Kershaw County Chamber of Commerce 607 Broad St Camden, SC 29021 (803) 765-5131	Chapin Office, located at: Chapin Chamber of Commerce 302 Columbia Ave. Chapin, SC 29036 (803) 345-1100
Florence Office, located at: Francis Marion University 4822 East Palmetto Street Florence, SC 29506 (843) 665-0515	Hartsville Office, located at: Hartsville Chamber of Commerce 214 North 5th Street Hartsville, SC 29550 (843) 332-6401
Lexington Office, located at: Lexington Chamber of Commerce 321 South Lake Dr. Lexington, SC 29072 (803) 359-6113	Northeast Office , located at: Village at Sandhill 110-6 Forum Drive Columbia, SC 29229 (803) 765-5131 (Specify NE Branch in Message)
Orangeburg Office, located at: 155 Riverside Drive, S.W. Orangeburg, SC 29116 (803) 534-6821	Sumter Office, located at: Greater Sumter Chamber of Commerce 32 East Calhoun St. Sumter, SC 29150 (803) 775-1231

BUSINESS RESOURCES

Clicking on the following links will lead you to a wealth of business information. When you are finished looking, just click on the back arrow on your browser to return to this web site.