Dayton’s award-winning chapter of SCORE connects entrepreneurs and nonprofit owners with executive mentors
More than two decades ago, Doug Van Dyke reached out to Dayton’s chapter of SCORE—a nonprofit organization offering mentorship services to small businesses—looking for assistance launching his roofing company.
Van Dyke was matched with SCORE mentor Art Helmstetter, who helped Van Dyke grow his business idea—Van Martin Roofing—into a thriving, multi-million-dollar company in the Miami Valley.
SCORE, short for Service Corps of Retired Executives, offers small businesses and nonprofits the chance to receive personalized mentorship from current and former executives like Helmstetter.
In addition to winning Best Outreach Program in the 2023 Greater Dayton Nonprofit of the Year Awards, SCORE Dayton was recently named the organization’s top chapter in the Midwest—besting 35 other chapters in the region. In the past 50 years, Dayton’s SCORE chapter has helped thousands of local businesses get off the ground. In 2022 alone, SCORE volunteers mentored 77 new businesses in coming to life.
Sometimes, those mentorships turn into lifelong partnerships—like that of Van Dyke and Helmstetter. Years after Van Martin Roofing got off the ground, Van Dyke reached back out to Helmstetter for assistance in starting Emerge, a nonprofit that helps rehabilitated addicts and alcoholics attend certified trade schools and work with second-chance employers. Helmstetter’s experience helping both small businesses and nonprofits through SCORE allowed him to mentor Van Dyke through that process, too.
The chapter also recently launched a nonprofit portal at daytonserves.org, which connects prospective volunteers and donors with nonprofits—more than 450 nonprofits in 13 counties throughout the region.
Local businesses and nonprofits seeking mentorship can visit SCORE’s website and submit a request. Once matched with a SCORE volunteer, the organization will receive personal counsel and mentorship tailored to their needs.
It’s not all new organizations, either. Helmstetter recalls working with the Beaver Creek Wetlands Association, which faced waning funds and membership 30 years after its founding. Helmstetter helped the group create an all-new strategic plan and rework its staffing structure, allowing it to continue its crucial stewardship of the wetlands in Greene County.
Since reaching out to SCORE, Helmstetter says, the organization’s yearly income has increased from low six figures to over a million dollars per year—and it recently embarked a 10-year, multi-million trail building project. Over the course of his mentorship, Helmstetter ended up becoming a personal financial supporter to the group as well.
“It really was transformational,” Helmstetter says. “That’s a big win.”
Many of SCORE’s volunteers are similar to Helmstetter—a former business executive looking to give back to entrepreneurs.
“I’m 73, and I just feel really fulfilled working with these organizations and I see these transformations. It’s a two-way street. We’re volunteering and doing good work, but to be honest, it’s selfish,” Helmstetter says with a laugh. “I did it for corporations for money, now I’m doing it for these nonprofits because I want to leave a legacy for future generations.”
