How important is volunteerism to you?
At Hollstadt, supporting your volunteerism is very important to us. To incorporate volunteerism in our culture, Hollstadt instituted a program called True Impact years ago. Through True Impact, we recognize and reward the volunteer efforts of our employees and partners by providing a volunteer match. For every hour that a Hollstadt employee or approved partner volunteers for an eligible charity, Hollstadt will donate $50. Hollstadt will continue to donate up to eight hours ($400) for each employee per year. The charity we are highlighting this month is SCORE which is near and dear to Angela Dreis’ heart.
Minneapolis SCORE, founded in 1964, is the oldest of 364 chapters located throughout the United States, to serve small business entrepreneurs nationwide. SCORE is a national nonprofit association dedicated to entrepreneur training and helping small business startup, grow and succeed nationwide. SCORE is a valuable network of 13,000+ volunteers who offer small business entrepreneurs confidential business counseling services at no charge. SCORE volunteers have the knowledge and experience to help any small business owner get the help they need. Our dedicated volunteers represent over 270,000 years of experience across 62 industries. SCORE also provides local workshops and events to connect small business owners with the people and information they need to start, grow, and maintain their businesses, as well as online workshops available 24/7. SCORE provides resources, templates and tools to assist entrepreneurs in developing the plans and process they need to navigate their way to small business success.
Why do you volunteer with SCORE?
I always say it feeds my soul. I get to help really smart entrepreneurs and they value my input-perfect.
How long have you been working with SCORE?
I have been working since 2016 with SCORE, but my Dad has been with SCORE for about 10 years before that so I knew about SCORE from him.
What do you do as a volunteer?
I am paired with an entrepreneur and they try to match the type of help the company needs with my background. The companies are anything from an idea to a full company that is trying to grow. We create business plans, work on hiring or managing employees, seek funding, marketing and sales techniques-and sometimes I am just a sounding board to the owner who can’t talk business with family members or others.
Additional Information or needs?
My clients range from an upholstery company, day care, a designer lawn care, coach, small manufacturer, map maker and many more. I would love to mention we are looking for women mentors as I am only 1 of 2 out of 60 mentors who is a woman. You can spend as much time or as little as you want as a volunteer. In my case I spend about 3 hours a week volunteering.