While the volunteer organization, SCORE, has been around since 1964, carrying on its mission is to foster vibrant small business communities through mentoring and education. Even today, it remains one of the best-kept secrets in starting and growing businesses.

While not intentional, SCORE, with its hundreds of highly successful former business executives and entrepreneurs as volunteer consultants, has always been remarkably humble in talking about their amazing track record in helping thousands of new companies prosper.

That traditional culture of modesty, however, is slowly changing for the organization. With growing awareness of the number of underserved future business owners and the sad reality of a high percentage of failures, SCORE is now more eager than ever to share its success stories and its volunteer mentors’ outstanding qualifications.

One example is Ed French, who now calls the small town of Secretary in Dorchester County his home base.

With a lifetime history of creating numerous start-ups, business expansions, and operations, including partnerships, not-for-profit, and investor-owned companies, Ed decided to commit his volunteer work to help mentor new businesses.

Exceedingly well qualified, including managing businesses with 24,00o employees and over $3 billion in net revenue, French could easily command thousands of dollars a day as a paid consultant.

Instead, he decided to become the volunteer assistant director of SCORE on the Eastern Shore, taking on pro bono clients ranging from small nonprofits on the Mid-Shore to from throughout U.S. and Australia, China, Egypt, Kurdistan, Spain, and the UAE.

The Spy spent some time with Ed via Zoom last week to talk about his passion for his work and his observations about the challenges facing new entrepreneurs.

This video is approximately six minutes in length. For more information about SCORE of the Mid-Shore please go here.