Aviatra Accelerators Celebrates 10 Years
A local business accelerator supporting female entrepreneurs is celebrating a decade. Click here to read more about past program participants and what the future looks like for this organization.
Aviatra Accelerators wants to help female entrepreneurs surpass their goals of successfully owning their own business. And they’ve been doing that for 10 years now.
“We are a full-service resource center for female founders and women-owned businesses,” explains Aviatra Accelerators President and CEO Nancy Aichholz.
Aviatra Accelerators serves all women, in all industries, at any sage of the business cycle. “We have operations in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky and Dayton and are looking to expand regionally,” she says. “We also provide digital curriculum for women outside of our current services areas.”
The ultimate goal with a female business owners works with Aviatra Accelerators is to empower female founders from idea to exit, and everything in between.
As the 10 year anniversary approaches, Aviatra Accelerators has now served more than 2,500 women since they were established as one of the first incubator/accelerator programs in the region.
“Our top women have broken the $1 billion mark in combined earned revenues over the 10 years,” says Aichholz. “We are so encouraged by the success of our female founders that we know we will be around for a very long time!”
Celebrations for the anniversary will include highlighting an “Aviatra of the Month” through podcasts, social media, newsletter articles, and more. Then, in September, they will host an Aviatra Expo, where the community can come and be introduced to the Aviatras’ businesses, followed by a cocktail and networking celebration on September 30.
One of the women who have joined along for the journey with Aviatra Accelerators is Shauntel Dobbins of Financially U.
“Financially U is a financial resource network providing credit building, budget and savings strategies, personal finance workshops, tax preparation, and notary public/signing agent in a nonjudgmental atmosphere,” explains Dobbins.
With a passion for helping individuals adopt a mindset and set of behaviors that lead to financial success, Dobbins offers these services to clients, minus the judgement.
“Financial decisions are not made in a vacuum,” she says. “We are products of our environment, cultures, and beliefs.”
The decision for Dobbins to get involved with Aviatra Accelerators was encouraged by a fellow entrepreneur who participated in the accelerator and enjoyed it. “She explained how it helped her business and encouraged me to attend Explore,” she says. And the rest is history.
The program, according to Dobbins, offers female entrepreneurs support, networking strategies, empowerment, and mentorship from a female perspective.
And the support and connections Dobbins has made along the way are what made Aviatra so special to her.
“I have enjoyed the ongoing support that Aviatra Alumni receive once the class has ended,” she says. “I have seen Aviatra Alumni come back and assist those participating in the program. Aviatra is the best!”
“We will be expanding our use of Aviatra365, our digital product for the rural entrepreneur, or them who has kids at home and can’t come to a cohort, or the corporate executive who travels and can’t commit to a weekly cohort class,” she says.
