When SCORE 87 Flagler & Volusia began, Bonanza ruled the television ratings, Frank Sinatra owned the radio waves with “Strangers in the Night,” America was pushing for the return of her troops from Vietnam and college head coach Steve Spurrier was the Heisman Trophy winner. That year was 1965.

Since its beginning, SCORE 87 has helped developed Palm Coast and Flagler County into one of the fastest growing cities in the nation.

“When you walk down the streets and go through the shopping malls, it’s amazing how many of those businesses have been touched by SCORE,”

“When you walk down the streets and go through the shopping malls, it’s amazing how many of those businesses have been touched by SCORE,”said Roger Leverton, the organization’s District Director and former president. “I’ve personally dealt with sons of fathers that we have helped develop their business, and now, the sons are starting a business. That is the total payback for us.” SCORE 87 helps generate 200 local businesses each year, according Leverton.

Flagler Chamber of Commerce hosted the Think Flagler Luncheon to celebrate SCORE’s 50th anniversary of serving community Thursday, May 28, at the Hilton Garden Inn. Guest speaker Tom Hellman, the organization’s president, credited its longevity to four traits: Leadership, partnership, relevance and innovation.

“What’s a challenge for us is that we’re a volunteer organization,” he said. “A lot of times, people want to volunteer, but they don’t want to volunteer too much, so we have to put together a core of people who will pull the laboring oars, and we do have that; and that’s part of the success.” “Relevance to volunteers is critical because they giving their time for free, but the question is, what are they getting in return for it? Hellman added. “What they get back is being able to help somebody succeed. It’s just the glitz in the individual’s eye, when he looks up and says, ‘Boy, I learned something,’ something he didn’t know. Our payback is to see people like Curtis and RoseMarie, who say, ‘We succeeded in large measure because you helped us.’”

“The more I learned about them, I realized they could calm some fears we had in business about making decisions and answer a lot of questions. As a business owner, SCORE gives you the extra support and confidence you need to prevail and make the necessary changes that businesses have to do,” she added.

Curtis Ceballos, the co-founder of the TALKiT application, and RoseMarie Killian of Killian’s Gutters and Screens, shared their testimonies of how Score 87 helped their business ventures become successful. “We went to SCORE at the beginning for guidance, and they provided us a road map,” Ceballos said. “Able to use that map, we’re over 250,000 users, and it’s starting to take off.” Killian, who was awarded the 2013 SCORE Chapter 87 Entrepreneur of the Year, said, “The more I learned about them, I realized they could calm some fears we had in business about making decisions and answer a lot of questions. As a business owner, SCORE gives you the extra support and confidence you need to prevail and make the necessary changes that businesses have to do,” she added.

As SCORE 87 manages to stay relevant, innovate with the times, place great volunteers in leadership positions and add partnership annually, Hellman believes the organization will reach 100 years in the future. “It’s that mix of those four ingredients that has helped us succeed in the past, and will help us succeed as we go forward.”