Building Businesses, Building Community
How the NCRA Helped SCORE Manasota Bring Free Small Business Education to Newtown Entrepreneurs
For many aspiring entrepreneurs, the gap between a great idea and a functioning business comes down to one thing: access to knowledge. Thanks to support from the Newtown Community Redevelopment Agency Mini Grant Program and a sponsorship from BayFirst Financial, which backed the inaugural series, SCORE Manasota was able to bring that knowledge directly into the Newtown CRA District — free of charge — through a series of practical, high-impact small business workshops.
SCORE Manasota is a nonprofit made up largely of retired business owners and executives who volunteer their time to help others start and grow small businesses. Everything they offer — workshops, seminars, one-on-one mentoring — is completely free. Using its NCRA grant funding, SCORE hosted seven workshops right in Newtown, running from November 2024 through April 2025. Sessions were held at lunchtime, and SCORE even provided food so that attendees could come, eat, learn, and connect with mentors — removing as many barriers to participation as possible.
Over the course of the year, the workshops drew 69 total attendances from 40 unique participants — meaning many came back session after session. That kind of return attendance speaks to the real value people found in the program. The satisfaction scores backed it up: attendees rated the sessions between 8.8 and 10 out of 10 on likelihood to recommend, with 10 being “Extremely likely to recommend.”
Perhaps most telling is what happened after the workshops. Half of all unique attendees — 20 out of 40 — followed up by requesting a one-on-one SCORE mentor. Those participants are now actively working through business plans, growth strategies, and marketing plans with experienced professionals by their side.
Community Impact
Workshops held in the Newtown CRA District!
Unique attendees reached through free workshops!
Of attendees followed up with a free 1-on-1 mentor!
Attendee satisfaction scores ranged from 8.8 to 10 out of 10 across every session.
“Out of those 40 unique attendees, half of them asked for a SCORE mentor to work with — and they are now working through business plans, growth plans, marketing plans, and all sorts of great things.”
Moira Collins, SCORE Manasota
The program's success led to a second NCRA Mini Grant for this year. SCORE expanded its reach by shifting to evening sessions to connect with a broader cohort of aspiring entrepreneurs. The new series, sponsored by First Source Bank, kicked off with a session on how to get your bank to say yes, followed by a six-part deep dive into building a complete business plan.
SCORE worked hard to grow visibility in the community — distributing flyers at Sarasota County libraries, listing events on the community calendar through the Sarasota Chamber, and coordinating with the Newtown CRA and Newtown Business Council to spread the word. During the first series, SCORE volunteers even walked the neighborhood monthly to hand out flyers directly to residents.
Through the NCRA Mini Grant, Newtown residents gained access to the kind of business education and mentorship that can be the difference between an idea that stays a dream and one that becomes a thriving enterprise. That's exactly the kind of community investment the NCRA Mini Grant Program was built to make. SCORE resources are available for any Newtown resident who missed out on these opportunities at SCORE Manasota.
