One of our core values at AMSE is collaboration over competition. We aim to bring you the very best resources, information, and skills to help you on your entrepreneurial journey by partnering with the very best.
That’s why we are so excited to announce our newest AMSE Community Chapter!
The Fort Bragg Community Chapter will launch on March 22nd and is sponsored by the Women’s Business Center (WBC) at the Center for Economic Empowerment and Development (CEED). This chapter in Fayetteville will bring together the education, platform, and community that AMSE has developed and the localized experience, resources, and connections that the WBC has cultivated for decades.
The co-leaders of this chapter are pillars in the local business community and at the WBC.
Chapter co-leader Suzy Hrabovsky is a military veteran, military spouse, and the executive director of CEED. She has been working in the community for years to bring equality and resources to women in business. As a military spouse herself, she understands the unique needs of those who come to the WBC for assistance. She also knows the fear of entrepreneurship and how important that network and support are. “Don’t be afraid of the challenge. Get out, network, find the needs in your community. Seek help where you can get it.”
When she heard about AMSE and our mission to ensure that every military spouse can start and scale their own business, she knew that a community chapter with the WBC could help us bring this vision to the area. Fort Bragg is the most populated military base in the U.S. and located west of Fayetteville. In this location, the chapter and partnership will be yet another asset to milspouses living here.
Chapter co-leader Carolina Echeverri is a bilingual business consultant and military spouse at CEED. She remarked on how life is challenging as a military spouse but that we rise to that challenge. She moved to the U.S. from Columbia a decade ago, where everything was out of her comfort zone. Yet her desire to thrive here drove her to succeed - and she wants to help give that same drive to military spouses in the Ft Bragg area. “I want to be part of the AMSE Fort Bragg Chapter because I can do what I love to do - to be that milspouse’s liaison and help them make their BIG DREAMS real.”
The WBC was founded nearly twenty years ago as a part of CEED. As Ms. Echeverri said, “The WBCFay centers its attention on helping people, not just women, in developing their business at any stage: an exploration of ideas, startup, or expansion...with their business plans, grants/loans, self-motivation, and Covid-19 relief resources...offering one-on-one consultations, Monday Motivation meetings, and classes.” With funding from the SBA, this program has been able to fill in the gaps for women in terms of information and resources. They were also able to start a microloan program, the only women’s business center to be awarded $1M funding from the SBA for this.
While the WBC helps all women in the area, the AMSE Fort Bragg Community Chapter will bring in military spouses specifically.
Many of their staff are military spouses or military-affiliated! They have been helping milspouses for years already; now through the partnership with AMSE, this chapter is poised to bring the best resources, guidance, and community to the area. “Milspouses bring culture and opportunity and talent to every area,” Ms. Hrabovksy said. “We want to help them as they move to the area and thrive here.”
With Ms. Hrabovsky, Ms. Echeverri, and the WBC staff leading it, we cannot wait to see the impact that the Fort Bragg Community Chapter will have on milspouses there!
Interested in joining an AMSE Community Chapter? Look for one in your area.
Would you like to start an AMSE Community Chapter? Complete this application to start helping milspouses in your area!
Join AMSE today and get all the tools, resources, and community you need to succeed as a milspouse entrepreneur! We also have a Slack channel for members to ask for advice and support, or utilize our member directory in the newest edition of the Military Spouse Entrepreneurship Guide!
Rachel is the co-owner and Editor of The Military Mom Collective. She has been an Air Force spouse for 17 years and a mother of four children. She holds a BA in English and a MA in Management. When not busy with work or her family, she enjoys reading as many books as possible and drinking all the coffee.
Rachel is also the Copy Editor at AMSE and a freelance writer. She has been featured on We Are The Mighty, Her View From Home, AMSE, The Beautifull Project, Hand-in-Hand QC, and other publications. She has been blogging for herself and other organizations for over 10 years. She is always trying to stay on top of SEO practices and loves using the power of experiences and storytelling to empower businesses and individuals.
