Fritz Amspacher recently joined the RISE Collaborative team as a RISE Business Navigator through a partnership with Community Investment Collaborative. We asked Fritz about his new role and its significance for him, the entrepreneurs he will be working with, and the Southern Virginia region.
Read on to learn more about Fritz and his vision for the program!
Tell us about the role – what do you do, what are your goals and responsibilities?
My role is a Business Navigator, meaning that I help guide, coach, and lead entrepreneurs to the various things they’ll need to run a successful business, whether that is connecting them with a lender, helping them enroll in workshops, mentoring them for interactions with clients and investors, etc. We connect people to the tools they need to realize and accomplish their goals.
Tell us about your background and previous experiences that have led and prepared you for this position.
Throughout my life I’ve worked in every aspect of the Hospitality industry, but I always found myself drawn back into privately owned restaurants. I worked hand in hand with many small business owners, and saw the struggles they faced as they attempted to navigate their entrepreneurial journey without proper coaching or guidance. It is a well known statistic that about 60% of restaurants fail within their first year, and roughly 80% fail within the first five years. By any standard those numbers don’t bode well for entrepreneurs, specifically those in the hospitality industry, however when you look at those numbers with the knowledge that 41% of restaurant firms are owned by BIPOC entrepreneurs, 11% more than businesses in the overall private sector, you start to realize that the problem might not be the industry, but a lack of access to education, funding, and mentoring, for groups that have been historically marginalized. After moving to South Boston, and seeing the brilliant ideas that many members of the community have, but frequently don’t see come to fruition, I saw an opportunity to be part of the solution by working for CIC and helping people gain access to the tools they can use to build a strong, vibrant, self reliant community.
What attracted you to this role?
I have always loved the idea of helping small businesses. I’ve worked with many small business owners, have done consulting as a private business owner, and have seen the struggles many entrepreneurs face, and the idea of representing marginalized communities and making sure they get their seat at the table makes me feel good about the work that I could do, and the change I could bring to the community I live in, and the surrounding areas.
What are you most excited about in this new role?
I’m very excited to work with people from all walks of life, to learn about their businesses and their unique ideas and see those dreams and goals become a reality.
What is your vision for entrepreneurship in our region?
My vision for entrepreneurship in our region is a series of self reliant communities where the needs of the population are met by the members of that same community. I want a region where you don’t have to drive an hour to go to a bookstore, or 45 minutes to go to a nice restaurant, because it’s all in your town, created and run by the people you see everyday, with money that is constantly being redistributed within the community to build wealth.
How do you plan to engage with the entrepreneurial community in southern Virginia?
I plan to engage with the members of the community by listening, by understanding the difficulties they face as members of rural communities because I’m a member of a rural community as well, and by being committed to providing the best services to suit the various needs they might have.
What does success look like in this role?
To me, success in this role looks like successful businesses, jobs created, money put into the community through these businesses. If I’m successful in my role then I’m helping entrepreneurs lift up not just themselves, but the members of their community as well.
What message would you like to send to current and aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners in Southern Virginia?
Don’t give up. Success doesn’t happen overnight. Success is a series of incremental victories, addressing the next problem, and overcoming it, and that’s what we’re here to help you do.
How can entrepreneurs and small business owners in our region get in touch with you?
In office at the SOVA Innovation Hub at 715 Wilborn Ave, South Boston VA, through my email at fritz@cicville.org, or by calling me at 434-218-3481 or 434-260-5166.
Want to get in touch with Fritz?
Send him an email. He would love to connect!