Affordable Solutions for Women and Minority Entrepreneurs

Minority and women entrepreneurs in Bedford-Stuyvesant will get a leg up on growing their businesses beginning today, when the Central Brooklyn Housing Council (CBHC) opens its doors at the Magnolia Tree Earth Center. 

Starting with the kick-off of its press launch and open house registration at 1:00 pm, the housing council will begin providing affordable business services, training, networking and community development solutions for minority and women small business owners in the neighborhood. 

In 2010, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke earmarked Congressional funds for CBHC’s first Business Development Program (BDP), through the Small Business Administration. The goal of BDP is to offer counseling and technical assistance for early stage firms and start-up businesses.

“CBHC’s training, services and membership address much of what entrepreneurs need to sustain in this day and time," said CBHC Executive Director and BDP Founder Tammy Wills. "By moving businesses forward, we positively impact our community. We listen and respond to what our members, partners and associates need with convenient, real solutions.”

For more than a decade, Wills has worked with non-profits throughout Brooklyn, providing tax preparation and strategy, bookkeeping and small business consulting. She has helped manage a Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union’s VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program site for over five years, all the while building her own strategy for a comprehensive professional resource center.

The Magnolia Tree Earth Center, located at 677 Lafayette Avenue, across from Von King Park, was founded in 1970 by the late visionary Hattie Carthan, who saved a now landmarked magnolia tree from a city bulldozer and pioneered the neighborhood’s green initiative.

CBHC Open House Registration begins Wednesday, March 24, through Friday, April 1.

For more information, call CBHC at 347.770.8929 and learn more on its website.