SCORE Bucks County Announces New Co-Chairs

SCORE Bucks County volunteer mentors Ray Valukonis and Erwin Michelfelder have taken the helm as co-chairs of the local chapter. Both are certified mentors who have provided counseling and mentoring services to small business owners and entrepreneurs over the last seven years.

Outgoing SCORE Bucks County Chairman Gene Murtha, who has chaired the nonprofit organization for the last five years, passed the baton to Valukonis and Michelfelder. Murtha will continue to grow and build the chapter’s relationships with Bucks County businesses and like-minded organizations.

“I am proud of all that our chapter has accomplished,” Murtha said, noting that projections for 2016 show the Bucks County chapter will provide more than 2,000 mentoring sessions. “I know that Erwin and Ray will continue to make our organization a premiere resource for small business owners and entrepreneurs interested in starting or growing a business.”

The new co-chairs said their goal is to help SCORE Bucks County become more diverse in terms of its volunteer base and the clients it serves. Many of the roughly 50 volunteers are men. Valukonis, of Doylestown and Michelfelder, of Langhorne, said they would like to continue with programs such as the Women’s Business Mastermind Group to encourage more involvement from women, for example.

Michelfelder, who graduated from Drexel University with a marketing degree, owned a restaurant for 10 years. He spent the following 25 years as a national account manager for Dietz & Watson.

Volunteering with SCORE allowed him to “remain in the business realm.”

“I wanted to give back,” Michelfelder said. “I didn’t want another job. I wanted to volunteer to help people.”

Valukonis, who earned a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Lafayette College and an MBA in finance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, jokes that after he retired his wife didn’t want him around the house. He discovered SCORE Bucks County while looking for a volunteering outlet through the Bucks County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program.

His first career spanned 40 years in the high tech industry with management positions in finance, manufacturing, product development and general management. In his last job, Valukonis was responsible for end-to-end business management including strategy, planning, product development, product marketing, customer support and P&L/balance sheet accountability for a $1 billion worldwide business.

“I came the corporate route,” said Valukonis of his time with Eastman Kodak and Xerox. “I ran a business inside the business.”

Like other SCORE Bucks County mentors, Michelfelder and Valukonis use their own business expertise to counsel and guide local business owners and entrepreneurs as they start and grow their businesses.

About SCORE

Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 8.5 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE provides small business mentoring and workshops to more than 375,000 new and growing small businesses. With 50 members across the county, SCORE Bucks County provides over 1,500 services annually to local small business owners through one-on-one counseling and small business seminars. For more information, visit https://buckscounty.score.org/.