Officials from SCORE's Columbus chapter and its state office came down to show appreciation Thursday for Bob Montgomery's work starting SCORE Moultrie. From left are Barry Coates, SCORE district manager of Georgia; outgoing chairman Montgomery; Lisa Zeanah and Jim Lowry, who will share the chairmanship going forward; and Steve Taylor, chair of the Columbus chapter.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — SCORE Moultrie saluted its founder Thursday night as he steps down from the chairmanship.

Bob Montgomery will remain as treasurer of the organization, through which successful businesspeople mentor people who are preparing to start a new business.

Montgomery had retired from South Georgia Bank in 2014 when leaders of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber of Commerce and Development Authority approached him about spearheading the founding of a SCORE chapter here.

In describing the history of the local group, Montgomery indicated he had lacked enthusiasm for the proposal, but as he learned more about the group, he saw the potential it could have to help small businesses be more successful.

“Small businesses open and close without ever knowing how they should have started to begin with,” he said.

That’s the kind of direction SCORE mentors provide: recommendations on how to get capital, how to write up a business plan, and other advice that someone starting a business would need.

He met with some potential mentors. All but one politely declined. The one remaining said, “I’ll help you because I’m your friend.”

From that it grew.

The group currently has 14 mentors and is adding two more. It has more than 100 clients. It sponsored nine workshops last year, including one in Valdosta.

Also last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture signed a contract with the national SCORE office to mentor farmers. The Georgia SCORE office asked Montgomery if Moultrie would like to be the state’s pilot program for the new effort.

“We’re the No. 1 ag county in the state,” he said. “How do you wimp out on that?”

So, in addition to a retail mentoring effort that was only three years old, SCORE Moultrie started an agricultural mentoring program from scratch. Montgomery said he managed to get Colquitt County farmer Thomas Coleman to agree to mentor, and Coleman suggested someone else, who suggested someone else, and soon there were four ag mentors.

With two separate mentoring efforts going on, Montgomery got former Colquitt Regional Medical Center CEO Jim Lowry to take charge of the retail side, while former Riverside Manufacturing executive Lisa Zeanah led the agricultural side.

Both sides are seeing growth in participation and attendance at SCORE’s workshops.

“This started with nothing,” Montgomery said. “No plan, no playbook. … You get the right people, good things are going to happen.”

 SCORE Moultrie is not technically a chapter … yet. There are six full chapters in Georgia, and Moultrie operates as a branch of the chapter in Columbus. However, both local and state SCORE officials talked openly Thursday about Moultrie crossing the threshold within a year or two.

“You’re already doing what a chapter does,” said SCORE’s Georgia District Manager Barry Coates.

Montgomery is handing off leadership of SCORE Moultrie to Lowry and Zeanah, who will serve as co-chairs. Coates said that is an arrangement that’s becoming more common among SCORE chapters because the chairman’s duties require so much time. Lowry also said Greg Icard, vice president of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority, will serve the group as an administrative assistant.