SCORE for Generation Y?

If Michael O”™Malley set out looking for ways to haul his venerable consulting organization into the social media era, as it turned out it was Generation Y that found him.

In Norwalk, this ain”™t your grandfather”™s SCORE no more.

Long saddled with a bit of a dowdy reputation ”“ that can happen with an acronym standing for Service Corps of Retired Executives ”“ Fairfield County SCORE is on a vigorous pace to more than double its clientele this year.

The Norwalk organization already had won the accolade of SCORE chapter of the year in 2007 on the eve of the recession.

As much as a rebounding economy, chapter leader O”™Malley chalks up Fairfield County SCORE”™s more recent gains to efforts to run ongoing workshops, now numbering more than 100 for the calendar year ”“ with several addressing emerging technologies such as cloud computing and social media.

The chapter has done so with youthful reinforcements one might not expect to see at SCORE. O”™Malley noted the additions of two SCORE counselors both in their early 20s, one a former Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. employee now with sister company Otis Elevator, another a woman from Westchester County, N.Y., who contacted O”™Malley at the suggestion of her father, who had consulted with SCORE in the past.

O”™Malley has been openly recruiting counselors to keep pace with the push for more clients, with a significant percentage doing so from the position of volunteers still pursuing careers in their chosen fields, in addition to the retirees SCORE has long stood for. O”™Malley added that 40 percent of Fairfield County SCORE”™s consultants today are women.

SCORE officially launched in 1964, but by an earlier milestone hits its half-century mark upon the arrival of its 2013 fiscal year this October. In 1953, following the creation of President Eisenhower”™s Small Business Act, a Wilmington, Del., businessman formed a consulting service that SCORE says planted the seed for the national organization.

SCORE also has chapters in Shelton and Danbury. The organization remains the best consulting deal in town, offering unlimited free one-on-one sessions to help launch or run a small business, workshop series focused on starting a business and myriad forums addressing issues business owners face.

At the Darien Library May 2, it offers its second forum in a week”™s time on social media strategies. On May 16 at the Wilton Library, SCORE assesses cloud computing technology.

SCORE”™s local client roster includes some who run companies today squarely in the realm of emerging media. A Columbia University professor who volunteers at SCORE Norwalk three times a week helped Judy Virgulak start her own marketing agency, with JuMarMarketing L.L.C. consulting on social media strategies and other new media, located today just up the street from SCORE”™s new Norwalk offices on East Main Street.

As for SCORE Norwalk? O”™Malley says the chapter is active on LinkedIn and has a presence on Facebook, but for now has no plans to push a Twitter feed.

As it turns out, he”™s not having any issues getting the word out to ”“ and through ”“ Generation Y.