Jan. 17 - Better Business Bureau Serving Northern Indiana and SCORE of Northeast Indiana announce partnership

• Holding BBB Accredited businesses accountable for adherence to their Eight Standards for Marketplace Trust

• Promoting best business practices by engaging with and educating consumers and businesses

Radio, TV and news articles on prevalent scams and business topics

Monthly lunch and learn webinars

BBB Chamber presentations for businesses on relevant business topics

Shred Day events to help protect the community from identity theft

Collaboration with law enforcement and media on consumer protection issues

• Celebrating marketplace role models through the Annual Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics and Student of Integrity programs

The mission of SCORE, formed in 1964 as a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration, is to help aspiring and existing businesses succeed. SCORE offers mentoring services to businesses from start-up through succession planning.

Currently SCORE has Chapters in 235 cities around the country and is comprised of 11,000 plus volunteers from all walks of business life.

With this new relationship, SCORE will be making its vast array of business mentoring and other services available to all BBB accredited businesses. In addition, the two organizations will collaborate on various educational programs to benefit the business community. The partnership will leverage resources and the assets of each other’s organizations to help bring greater success to the small businesses in which the organizations operate.

SCORE provides educational resources that complement the educational programs currently offered by BBB; with a full slate of virtual and face to face workshops and on demand learning and webinars. The SCORE database of webinars currently has over 620 recorded webinars covering more than 19 general areas of business.

Last November, BBB and SCORE held their first Build a Better Business Conference and Torch Awards celebration at the Parkview Mirro Center. With the success of the event, they are already in the planning stages of their second annual 2023 Build a Better Business Conference and Torch Awards to be held in October.

Of this partnership, Steve Rinehart, retiring chairman of Northeast Indiana SCORE states: “The partnering of the two organizations is a natural fit as both strive to help businesses succeed through excellence in every phase of the operations. This partnership also brings to the business communities in NE Indiana increased value, resources, and opportunities to succeed.

SCORE members of the NE Indiana chapter look forward to working with BBB staff in 2023 to provide a varied portfolio of educational opportunities allowing the client bases to grow, taking advantage of these resources, to both stay current as well as learn about new techniques for growth and profitability.”

Of the BBB in relation to the SCORE partnership, Rick Walz, president & CEO of BBB said in the announcement, “The leadership of BBB and SCORE recognize the value that each brings the business community and the consumers they serve. With this new relationship, we will cross-promote each other’s programs, thereby adding value to the members of both organizations.” There are currently 3,400 Accredited Businesses in BBB Serving Northern Indiana’s 23-county service area.

It is the intention of this partnership to increase awareness of both organizations in the community to help foster improved growth and success of small businesses, thereby helping to increase the economic vitality of the communities each serves.