SCORE Bucks County beat out nine other chapters in the Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware District to be named SCORE Chapter of the Year for 2025.
The chapter’s growth in mentoring sessions, number of mentors, as well as its new veterans business programs are some of the reasons why the chapter received this honor.
Under the leadership of the chapter’s first-ever female chairwoman, SCORE Bucks County beat out nine other chapters in the Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware District to be named SCORE Chapter of the Year.
The 2025 SCORE Chapter of the Year recognition is based upon the chapter’s achievements in fiscal year 2024.
SCORE Bucks County mentor Linda Zangrilli, who served as chairwoman from 2020 through 2024, led the chapter’s year-over-year double-digit percentage increases in the number of mentoring sessions, mentoring hours, volunteer mentors, and welcomed more than 100 new small business owners for mentoring during fiscal year 2024, which began Oct. 1, 2023 and concluded on Sept. 30, 2024.
“I am honored to receive this prestigious award for SCORE Bucks County,” Zangrilli said. “Thank you to all 70 mentors in the chapter as well as our dedicated leadership team who served as our Executive Committee. This would not have been possible without their dedication to SCORE’s mission to help small businesses start, grow and prosper.”
SCORE Bucks County, which provides no-cost mentoring to entrepreneurs throughout Bucks and eastern Montgomery counties, also launched the Veterans Small Business Resource Guide last year as a means to better assist military veterans interested in starting their own business ventures.
The Chapter of the Year recognition comes on the heels of SCORE Bucks County’s accomplishment as a Platinum Leadership Award winner since 2018. The Platinum award is one of the highest recognitions possible for any local chapter and only a small percentage of SCORE’s more than 300 chapters nationwide qualify for the annual honor.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the chapter has dramatically increased its services to the burgeoning local business community. For the 2024 fiscal year, SCORE Bucks saw a 20 percent uptick in total mentoring sessions, increasing by 467 sessions from 2,325 in the previous year to 2,792. Mentoring hours too grew from 2,626.25 to 3,233.75, marking a 23 percent year-over-year increase. To serve the higher volume of mentees, the chapter, in 2024, expanded its mentoring pool from 57 volunteer mentors in 2023 to 66 last year.
SCORE Bucks County has also been recognized as a leader in the use of artificial intelligence. Current Chapter Co-chair Charlie Morris has led workshops discussing how entrepreneurs can use AI programs such as ChatGPT to make businesses more creative and efficient.
To learn more about SCORE, request a mentor or volunteer to be one, visit score.org.
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