MOULTRIE, Ga. — Two years ago a project called SCORE was kicked off here in Colquitt County. The concept is to mentor those who might be going into business or seeking to expand business but need advice from people who have already walked this trail. This project is about to get bigger.

It was announced this week that SCORE (Service Corporation of Retired Executives) will greatly broaden its scope with an agricultural tangent.

“Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has decided that the USDA will turn over its mentoring activities to SCORE,” said Bob Montgomery, director of the Moultrie SCORE project. The farming aspect of this project involves seven states, including Georgia.

Montgomery, a retired banker, said this transition is being launched in Colquitt County for Georgia. Perdue was scheduled to make the announcement later this week in Des Moines, Iowa.

“It’s fitting that it’s launched here for Georgia because we’re the largest farming community in the state,” said Montgomery.

Montgomery said veteran Colquitt County farmer Thomas Coleman has agreed to serve SCORE as one of its mentors.

“And we’ll be looking for more ag experienced people to help us in this endeavor,” said Montgomery.

Not only is this a new tangent to SCORE, but it’s a large one. Primarily, SCORE’s scope has been small business. Farming, on the other hand, is quite a different proposition. Montgomery said this aspect of SCORE could be applied to a young farmer taking over a family operation, or it could be a retired person who wants to farm just few acres. Either way, acquiring farm land, buying or leasing machinery and having adequate storage facilities can run into very large sums of money that require tremendous expertise to manage.

Montgomery said there’s a lot to be learned in adding this to SCORE.

“We’ll be having some kind of reception or program to introduce this concept,” Montgomery added.

Meanwhile, the more conventional phase of SCORE, is about to launch its fall workshops here in Moultrie. At the moment, SCORE is mentoring 15 area projects. Half of them are in Colquitt County. Others are in surrounding communities. Four workshops will kick off at the end of August.

SCORE is a national non-profit entity with chapters around the country.