Release Number: 20100616-1
June 16, 2010
Arizona Businesses, Entrepreneurs Get a Veteran Chamber of Commerce
PHOENIX – The United States Veterans Chamber of Commerce officially opened a Phoenix Chapter to service veterans, veteran business owners, and veteran-interested businesses in Arizona today.
The Phoenix Chapter is an extension of the Texas-based USVCC, which has a presence at the national level and locally in Texas.
USVCC Chief Executive Officer Brian Bascom said, “[b]y opening a chapter in Phoenix our organization is making a commitment to improving the situation of all veterans in the great state of Arizona.”
The creation of the USVCC Phoenix Chapter was the merger of the national efforts of the USVCC and the local efforts of the fledgling Arizona Veterans Chamber of Commerce.
AVCC Charter President Ray K. Ragan founded the AVCC in Mar. 2010, when Ragan, an Iraq veteran opened his business and found that there was no chamber of commerce specifically for veterans.
“I started setting up my business and found that there wasn’t a support network for veterans in Arizona Well, this is something I know how to fix,” said Ragan.
The USVCC appointed Ragan the Phoenix Chapter President.
“If there’s one thing I learned in the Army: you can do good things individually, but for the great things, you need a team,” said Ragan.
The Phoenix Chapter is the first chapter outside of Texas and is a pilot for other chapters nationally. The Phoenix Chapter will service the whole of Arizona, until other chapters in Arizona form.
“We are pleased to be able to provide the veterans of Arizona with access to services to enable them to manage, create, and develop business opportunities in this competitive climate,” said Bascom.
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