Business-advisory agency opens new Mystic space
Mystic — The business-advisory group SCORE is partnering with the Greater Mystic Area Chamber of Commerce to start counseling startups and growing companies out of chamber offices in the Packer Building.
SCORE, a national organization associated with the U.S. Small Business Administration, offers free help in writing business plans, helps connect firms with lending partners and even offers advice on e-marketing and other areas.
Buz Sawyer of Stonington, a marketing expert whose New York advertising-agency clients have included Nike, Coca-Cola and ESPN, will be among the volunteers manning the new Mystic mentoring center, which has regular business hours on the first and third Wednesdays of the month and also is open by appointment.
Mentoring sessions are free.
"It seems like there is a pretty big opportunity in Mystic," said Sawyer, who is semi-retired and has been a full-time resident of the area since October.
Others who will work out of the office are Sharon Sisitzky of Stonington, a retired college professor with a computer science background, and Barry LaVista of Mystic, a business executive with a background in supply chains, chemicals and marine industries.
Sawyer said the mentoring space is a return of SCORE to Mystic after a period when the advisory group had not had an office in Connecticut on the east side of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge spanning the Thames River.
He previously had worked out of office space in Waterford, and SCORE also recently opened a new mentoring center in New London.
"This neck of the woods needs greater economic development," Sawyer said.
Often, he said, potential entrepreneurs have a rough idea of what they want to do but need help in clarifying their business focus. He frequently starts out sessions by asking for a quick elevator pitch about the business plan.
Sawyer said he has met with Blunt White, chairman of the Stonington Economic Development Commission; Jason Vincent, Stonington's new planning director, and Tricia Walsh, president of the Mystic chamber, to help get out word about the new opportunity with SCORE.
To connect with SCORE, visit www.sect.score.org, email scorechapter@gmail.com or call (860)388-9508.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
