SCORE Launches Online Advice and Networking Community for Small Business

Peer-to-Peer Community from PartnerUp Offers Mentoring and Networking Opportunities

WASHINGTON, May 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" launches the online SCORE Community where small business owners can meet, learn and grow. This leading edge community powered by PartnerUp, a Deluxe Company, offers peer-to-peer networking and access to SCORE mentoring and advice. Visit the SCORE Community at www.scorecommunity.org.

The SCORE Community will be filled with SCORE volunteer mentors and anyone interested in learning about and talking about issues facing small businesses. In addition, the SCORE Community connects to other PartnerUp communities that currently have more than 100,000 active members, providing a networking opportunity to connect with other entrepreneurs.

"SCORE is dedicated to helping small businesses with advice, mentoring, training and tools," says SCORE CEO Ken Yancey. "Thanks to PartnerUp, the SCORE Community will help SCORE make a direct connection with experienced entrepreneurs to help them with the issues they face every day, which is especially important during a recession."

Joining the SCORE Community is quick, easy and free. Go to www.scorecommunity.org and click "Join Now." You will be asked to provide some basic information about yourself and that's it. Once you've become a SCORE member, you can access all of the small business resources, advice and networking that the experienced community offers.

"Working with SCORE gives us an opportunity to connect more entrepreneurs with mentoring. PartnerUp is pleased to contribute to knowledge and connections for entrepreneurs by donating our online community platform to SCORE," says Steve Nielsen, Co-founder and CEO, PartnerUp. "This is a perfect example of how PartnerUp is dedicated to supporting the small business community, giving more people and companies ways to communicate directly and efficiently with the diverse small business audience."

About PartnerUp

PartnerUp is the first and largest online community geared solely toward small business owners and entrepreneurs. PartnerUp is the leading provider of enterprise solutions software for companies looking to target the small business market. PartnerUp was founded in February 2005 and acquired by Deluxe Corporation in July 2008. PartnerUp is headquartered in Minneapolis. For more information, visit http://corporate.partnerup.com.

About SCORE

Since 1964, SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" has helped more than 8.3 million aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners through counseling and business workshops. More than 11,200 volunteer business counselors in 370 chapters serve their communities through entrepreneur education dedicated to the formation, growth and success of 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 on the Web at www.score.org, http://askanexpert.score.org and http://womensblog.score.org.