By Kathy Perciful
What does an Operations Vice President for State Farm do after retirement? Play golf? Travel extensively? Take life at a leisurely pace?
Not Dick Wadley, a Service Core of Retired Executives (SCORE) mentor and former South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) trustee.
In 2000, after retiring from State Farm, Dick decided to pay back to the Thurston County community. He particularly wanted to be involved in business-related education. SCORE is a natural fit for Dick. It has allowed him to get to know business people, their abilities and capabilities, and help them move forward and take the risk to grow their businesses.
As a part of the Small Business Administration family, SCORE has over 13,000 volunteers nationwide. It is a free, confidential service to people in any stage of the business cycle. From pre-startup planning where business ideas are being introduced, through the growth of a business and financing options, the SCORE volunteer mentors have in-depth knowledge and expertise. Another key component to mentoring is providing an experienced set of eyes to suggest resources and guide business owners to find their own solutions for other issues that present themselves. Mentoring can be done in person or online.
The Lacey chapter of SCORE has been co-located with the Thurston County Economic Development Council for the last 14 years. SCORE and its nine volunteers will be following the EDC when they move to the Center of Business and Innovation at SPSCC’s new Lacey campus (4220 6th Avenue, Lacey) in September. Locally, the Lacey Chapter provides workshops on Business Startup and in-person mentoring.
Over his 14 years as a volunteer, Dick has assisted over 1,000 businesses. One of Dick’s local clients is Cabinets by Trivonna, located at 4444 Lacey Blvd SE. Dick introduced himself and the capabilities of SCORE soon after Trivonna Irwin opened the business in 2008. Two years later, Trivonna’s husband, Ross Irwin sought Dick’s help.
“Dick helped us in so many ways. We began to understand about Quickbooks, forecasts and sales goals. He directed us to Ron Nielson at the Small Business Development Center for their Profit Mastery Course, which was a huge help. He encouraged us to utilize Sandler Training for sales training,” says the local business owner.
“We always call Dick when we need business advice,” adds Ross. “He is a catalyst to get our creative juices flowing. His suggestion for adding pictures of Trivonna’s designs in the showroom got us to thinking. There are now over 100 pictures throughout the showroom to show customers what their finished project will look like. Dick is our guide, our on-call mentor.”
Dick’s SCORE clients are joined by the trustees of SPSCC in their accolades of this fellow with a big heart. Trustee Judy Blinn described Dick’s contributions to the college in the areas of business, corporate organizational skills, and finance experience were valuable to the continuing growth of the college. Judy also shared that Dick made his decisions on what were right for both the students and the college.
Dick was awarded “Trustee of the Year Award” for Washington State for 2012 by the Trustees Association of Community and Technical Colleges. This organization is comprised of all 150 of the Community and Technical Trustees in Washington. He continues to support the college through scholarships, not only providing funds but also meeting with the individual recipients, learning about their plans and offering encouragement.
Michael Cade, Executive Director of Thurston County Economic Development Council (EDC) recounted his involvement with Dick and SCORE’s importance to the growth of the EDC over the past 11 years. “When I arrived in 2004, the EDC had two employees – Celia Nightingale and myself. The local SCORE chapter was already reaching out into the business community with four volunteers. I learned from Dick how the EDC could leverage the activity that SCORE was accomplishing. The EDC would not be where we are today if it hadn’t been for SCORE’s involvement. They became the valuable resource that allowed us to grow.”
“Dick sought me out during my first month on the job,” continues Cade. “Since then, he has become my mentor and has guided me into areas of success by showing me where opportunities exist to grow. He encouraged me to include in my decision making how our choices would impact and support the private business sector.”
Cade says that Dick has also been a strong advocate for collaborative partnerships. “Because of this, we currently have seven programs within the EDC and have partnerships and relationships on 45 boards within Thurston County. Additionally, due in part to Dick’s involvement with both SCORE and SPSCC, the new Center for Business and Innovation has become a reality,” he adds.
Whether Dick is mentoring a small business owner through SCORE or quietly working behind the scenes to effect business-related education in the South Sound, his involvement is a key to the vitality of the small business community. It’s our very good fortune that Dick doesn’t golf!
