Michael Mendez Elected National Board Chair of SCORE

Santa Fe, N.M., Business Leader to Lead National Mentoring Organization

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Michael "Mike" Mendez of Santa Fe, N.M., begins a two-year term as board chair for SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business." Mendez will lead SCORE's mission to grow 1 million small businesses by 2017, through a national network of more than 12,400 volunteer mentors. His term as board chair begins October 1. Learn more about SCORE at www.score.org.

Mendez retired after a 33-year career with Southern California Edison Company (SCE). At SCE, he held a variety of leadership positions that focused on labor relations, human resources, customer service and community relations.

During his 10 years as a corporate officer, Mendez served as the vice president of human resources, labor relations and regional leadership. At the time of his retirement, he was the vice president of human resources and labor relations.

Following the civil unrest in Los Angeles in 1992, Mendez was selected to implement the strategy for and lead SCE's initiative to help rebuild the region. This included overseeing the company's $35 million dollar contribution to the rebuilding effort.

After moving to Santa Fe, Mendez joined SCORE Santa Fe and North N.M. In addition to his community service activities, he is a consultant on human resources and labor relations issues. He most recently served on the SCORE National Board as vice chair.

SCORE CEO Ken Yancey says, "Mike Mendez has an outstanding business and management background. He is a champion for the role of small business in our economy, which is especially important as our nation recovers from the recession." Yancey adds, "Mike is an experienced leader and strategic planner who recognizes the importance of creating opportunities for America's entrepreneurs through the valuable mentoring that SCORE provides. His experience as a SCORE leader will help SCORE grow 1 million small businesses by 2017."

Mendez received a B.A. in Psychology from Whittier College and completed additional post graduate work in psychology.  He earned certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources from the Society for Human Resource Management.

About SCORE: Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 8.5 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE provides small business mentoring and workshops to more than 375,000 new and growing small businesses. More than 12,400 business experts volunteer as mentors in 364 chapters serving local communities with entrepreneur education to help grow 1 million small businesses.

For more information about starting or operating a small business, call 1-800/634-0245 for the SCORE chapter nearest you. Visit SCORE at www.score.org and www.score.org/women. Connect with SCORE at www.facebook.com/SCOREFans, http://twitter.com/SCOREMentors and www.scorecommunity.org.

SOURCE SCORE Association