With the news so full of stories of greedy bank executives being bailed out by the taxpayer while collecting huge bonuses, it is refreshing to speak to representatives of SCORE, a group of retired bank executives that advise America’s small businesses - for free.
No ulterior motives, except for the feeling of being useful to their community.
And, lately, more and more of SCORE’s clients are former lay-offs from Wall Street.
“We had lawyers come in, we had Wall Street analysts, mortgage brokers, bond traders, you name it, all have been laid off from banks and Wall Street,” said Leonard Springer, a former financial consultant and one of the 12 000 counselors, working from one of the seven offices located in New York City. “We have more clients in business now, as opposed to people who want to start a business.”
Counselors at the non-profit SCORE are retired business owners themselves, and many of them have a background in finance. They offer their experience and expertise to help recent lay-offs and young entrepreneurs to start their business or to save existing businesses from going bankrupt. In New York City around 50 clients come in every day.
“They [the counselors] feel their life has to have more in it than just playing tennis or golf. If you feel you want to have a sense of usefulness, you want to give back to your community and you have a lot of knowledge to provide, this is the place to come,” says Harry Dannenberg, vice chair of SCORE, who used to run a women’s footwear business.
Stanley Nemeroff, a counselor at SCORE and former equity researcher at a leading wealth management firm in New York City, said, “I came to SCORE because missed the connection with investment professionals and people in business.”
