The U.S. Small Business Administration, Santa Ana District Office has selected Michael Fisher as the 2017 SCORE Mentor of the Year. After a successful 50 year career in retail, shopping center and commercial real estate development, Fisher joined the SCORE Inland Empire chapter and now spends his retirement mentoring small business owners and entrepreneurs in the Murrieta, CA area. He was nominated for the award by Scott Agajanian, Business Development Manager for the City of Murrieta.
Four years ago when Fisher became a Certified SCORE Mentor, he started out volunteering to help small businesses one day a week. This quickly became two days, then three, and now he spends his retirement volunteering to what amounts to almost a full-time job. In his capacity as a Certified SCORE Mentor, he enjoys helping business owners avoid making missteps with business planning or sales and marketing ramifications, he provides resources to entrepreneurs to help them get assistance in fields they may be lacking in, and he counsels on how to prepare for growth and manage expectations.
He builds awareness in his clients, educates them in areas of business ownership they may be unaware of, building their confidence but also warns them of possible downfalls.
Fisher’s focus as a SCORE Mentor is to help strengthen business prospects and owner knowledge through education and mentoring. Due to his reputation as a top level business counselor, his schedule is packed. In addition to one-on-one client sessions he utilizes the Murrieta Innovation Center, the City of Murrieta’s startup incubator, to host workshops that help businesses gain much needed information and networking opportunities. He promotes being engaged with the business community by being active with local chambers of commerce and utilizing SBA opportunities.
As if his work with SCORE wasn’t enough, Fisher’s community involvement goes much deeper.
He is a Planning Commissioner for the City of Murrieta, a current Board of Director and former Ambassador for the Murrieta Chamber of Commerce, routinely a guest speaker at the Chamber’s “New Member Orientation”, and was named Volunteer of the Year in 2015 by the Chamber. He most recently was a judge on a “Virtual Enterprise” panel for the Murrieta Valley Unified School District.
Fisher will be recognized and receive his award as the 2017 SCORE Mentor of the Year at the local Small Business Week Awards program which will be held Friday, June 9 from 10:30 a.m. to approximately 2:00p.m. at the Disneyland Hotel Grand Ballroom. The event is being hosted by the Orange County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. For more information on the event or to register, email events@ochcc.com or call 714-953-4289.
About SCORE – SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow and achieve their goals through education and mentorship for more than fifty years. Because their work is supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and thanks to their network of 11,000+ volunteers, they are able to deliver services at no charge or at very low cost.
