April 1, 2008  

A BUSINESS NEWSLETTER from SCORE: the SBA's resource partner.
Also at e-news on the web. Click on gold box below for mentoring info.

LOCAL NEWS

FRANK TORRENS - ONE OF THE BEST!

Achieves SCORE's Highest Honor

Frank Torrens is one of those incredible people who has helped counsel businesses in a manner few can. He did it with the experience of a former general manager and corporate president. Frank has served at the highest levels of the Cedar Rapids area SCORE organization. In early March, 2008, Frank was awarded the SCORE PLATINUM AWARD. This is the highest honor possible in this esteemed national organization of business counselors.

Frank joined SCORE in July 1998, after retiring from private industry. As president of the Cherry-Burrell Company (now Evergreen), he grew that business from a small size to over $150 million over a period of about 20 years. He also served a senior management stint with the Michigan firm, Elopak, in the 1990's from which he retired. A self made businessman who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, Frank converted a high-school degree into the highest leadership positions in his profession. He did this with determination, street-smart common sense and savvy.

Upon retirement, Frank put his senior management skills to work as a teacher of new business people. He is regarded as one of the best. And, he has done it all. Frank was the Cedar Rapids area SCORE Chapter Chairman from October 1, 2001, to September 30, 2003. He was Vice-Chair from Oct 1 1999 to Sept 30, 2001. And, it goes on! He was Chair of the Nominating Committee, Chair of the Partnership Committee and was on the Executive Committee for several years. He served on the Public Relations Committee and on the Evaluation Committee for four years. Staggering. Always involved, devoted to clients, ever reliable.

The community is better off thanks to guys like Frank. We cannot thank him enough. "Hats off to him!"

SMALL BUSINESS WEEK - THIS MONTH!

SCORE, the Small Business Administration's business resource partner, is looking forward to this year's national celebration of small business. The celebration will occur during the entire week of April 21-25, 2008.

To learn more about the national initiatives and events surrounding this important week, CLICK HERE.

FREE OFFICE SOFTWARE

Small businesses often start with minimal resources. Many cannot afford the commercial and proprietary office software suites distributed by the major software companies. There is good news:

or OPEN OFFICE. ORG

One of the world's most powerful and current Office suites is free. More importantly it is "open" (meaning no restrictive licenses) and can be downloaded by anyone. It includes a powerful word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program, "pdf" export and data base. It is also compatible with the leading commercial equivalent. If you need an Office suite and cannot afford hundreds of dollars for one, check it out.

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Brought to you by the Cedar Rapids chapter of SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business," a nonprofit association and resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration. SCORE is dedicated to entrepreneurship and the formation, growth and success of small businesses nationwide. Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 7.5 million entrepreneurs.

Copyright 2007. SCORE Chapter 227. All rights reserved.

SCORE® Ch. 227 c/o SBA, 2750 First Avenue NE, Ste. 350,
 Cedar Rapids IA 52402-4831
(319) 362-6405 Ext. 2005

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