SCORE in trouble

Rep. Chu says “lack of senior leadership“ at SBA adds to problems

     A California congresswoman is calling for reforms to the SCORE Association and the Small Business Administration after an audit of SCORE found $714,000 in unsupported costs and systemic accountability issues as well as ineffective oversight by SBA.

      Rep. Judy Chu, D-CA, who chairs the House Small Business Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations, called a hearing July 11 to examine the SCORE audit and concluded that SCORE needs better oversight and accountability.

      “SCORE’s chapters used 300 separate accounting systems, some on volunteer’s laptops, making effective oversight next to impossible,” Chu said in a statement.

      The SCORE association of volunteer business owners provides mentoring to small business owners. The group got $11.7 million in federal funds last year.

      The SBA Office of Inspector General’s recent audit found that SCORE improperly commingled restricted funds with unrestricted funds, inappropriately solicited donations for mentoring and incorrectly managed funds for cosponsored activities.

      At the hearing, Chu also questioned whether the SBA is effectively addressing the issues. “I am concerned that this may just be the tip of the iceberg, and that SBA’s lack of financial management of the SCORE program could be endemic of the program and possibly more widespread throughout the agency,” Chu said.

      “Even more troubling is the lack of senior leadership at the top of SBA that puts a strain on the agency’s ability to effectively resolve these issues,” Chu added. “The fact that SBA has been without an Administrator since March 2019 and without a Deputy Administrator since April 2018 is particularly disconcerting. While acting heads of agencies can keep the lights on, the SBA needs strong leadership at the helm to restore integrity and accountability,” Chu said.

      SCORE officials did not testify at the hearing and were not immediately available. However, Ken Yancey, CEO of SCORE, addressed the OIG audit at a Senate committee hearing in May. “SCORE is taking these findings very seriously. There are some legitimate issues that need to be immediately addressed,” Yancey said at that hearing. He said SCORE was committed to resolving all the audit issues.

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