Fred Abood served as an executive at Marriott International for 32 years. He retired in 2000 as senior vice president for business development. He was responsible for marketing, sales and national account development in the Health Care Services division. His career included numerous operational and developmental positions with profit and loss responsibilities.
Abood grew up in the family restaurant business in Jacksonville , Fla. He worked in the family’s business during high school and returned to it after college for a few years before joining Marriott. Abood earned an MBA at Georgia State University and completed undergraduate studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Abood joined Atlanta SCORE Chapter as a volunteer mentor in 2001. He served as vice chair for marketing and later Chairman. In 2004, he was named district director overseeing SCORE offices in Georgia. This year, Atlanta SCORE won the SCORE National Chapter of the Year Award for service excellence. Abood also volunteers with other community organizations.

“Fred Abood is a strategist and operations expert with national management experience from a stellar career at Marriott.” said SCORE Chairman Doug Kindred. “Fred brings a global perspective, experience in strategy and a focus on quality to the SCORE Board of Directors.”

Since 1964, SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small Business” has helped more than 8 million  entrepreneurs and small business owners through counseling and business workshops. More than 10,500 volunteer business counselors in 389 chapters serve their communities through entrepreneur education dedicated to the formation, growth and success of small businesses.

For more information about starting or operating a small business, call 1-800/634-0245 for the SCORE chapter nearest you. Visit SCORE on the Web at www.score.org or www.score.org/women.

National Contact: Michael L. Keaton 800/634-0245
Director of Communications; media@score.org
October 9, 2008