The mentoring program is part of SCORE Cleveland’s nod to the Community Navigator Pilot Program developed by the SBA during the pandemic, which is aimed at helping underserved businesses recover.

The program pairs community leaders with SCORE volunteers to work directly with entrepreneurs and owners at all stages of their business development.

SCORE members eventually pair up for one-on-one mentoring with hopeful entrepreneurs or existing owners looking to grow or pivot their business. Ward said the program has been a timely fit for a city that, among many other challenges, is plagued with blighted commercial areas and high retail vacancies.

“We are really focusing on all the different areas in and around East Cleveland that could quickly help revitalize the overall business community,” Ward said. “Part of our mission is to introduce new businesses and new business concepts into East Cleveland and build up our tax base.”

Ward believes SCORE’s hands-on approach can help make the most of East Cleveland’s benefits and assets.

East Cleveland, he said, has potential and is a bit of a blank slate with an abundance of available, low-rent commercial space that, with some work, could accommodate an influx of new businesses immediately.

“There’s a lot open in East Cleveland that is there to be developed,” Ward said.

Another objective for ECGA is to help entrepreneurs gravitate toward businesses and enterprises that might not be the first ones to come to mind when someone is looking to start a small business.

“We really needed people to think outside of the traditional businesses that you see opened in our community,” Ward said. “Barbershops, beauty salons, mom-and-pop stores — those are important, but we want our entrepreneurs to start thinking outside of that box and be open to businesses like staffing agencies, medical offices, businesses that don’t require a lot of foot traffic.”

Ward is optimistic that East Cleveland has entrepreneurs and owners interested in and ready to start diverse new businesses. Since partnering with SCORE, he said East Cleveland residents he’s talked with who are involved in the mentoring process are thinking broadly about the area’s immediate needs. One is looking to open a staffing agency, Ward said, and one is considering a cloud-server facility in the city limits.