Board Spotlight: Meet Adam Holtzschue

Meet Adam Holtzschue! Adam is currently serving on the ASPIRE Community Capital board, and in his role he shares his wealth of knowledge and experience from over thirty years in the financial sector (with one institution!). He celebrates his recent retirement last fall, and answers all of your questions below. Learn more about ASPIRE and Adam’s involvement with the board below!

Adam Holtzschue    Board Member, ASPIRE Community Capital    Executive Vice President, Wealth & Investment Management, Wells Fargo (Retired)

Why did you join the ASPIRE board?

Adam Holtzschue: Both to give back and to be more engaged in the Charlotte community. The last decade of my career has been spent traveling nationally and it was harder to stay connected locally. I was introduced to Aspire by Steven Cohen, one of our active board members with whom I have a personal friendship. It didn’t take long to understand how important the work is that Aspire is doing and after meeting with our CEO, Manuel Campbell, and hearing his foresight and commitment to the cause it was an easy decision. I also have a connection via my employer as Aspire was one of a few non-profit entities across the country that received funding from a recent Wells Fargo grant. That was a point of pride for me, certainly. I hope to bring insight to Aspire from my 35 years of experience and look forward to helping. Most of all, though, the mission of Aspire is an easy one to be drawn to. It’s work with high moral principles and ideals.

How do you think ASPIRE can help this community?

It’s bigger than helping individual entrepreneurs start, run or grow a business. It’s bigger than the positive economic impact it has on our Charlotte community. There is a special sense of pride in accomplishing something on your own – in this case starting or growing a business. Aspire brings specific skills and education and coaching, certainly, but the long-term benefit to the community is the pride and confidence instilled in our graduates that has an exponential and lasting impact. It’s as much about fostering the will as it is helping to develop the skills.

What activities/committees have you been involved with on the board?

I am on the ‘CDFI Sub-committee’ which is working to establish Aspire as a Community Development Financial Institution. CDFIs are entities that are formally recognized by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to provide capital (e.g., loans) to foster economic opportunity and revitalize neighborhoods. It is an elite designation and, in a way, will be national recognition of our efforts to provide funding for our entrepreneurs in addition to the training, coaching and access to financial resources we provide today. Separately, just being actively involved as a Board member has been important for me. Over my career, I have prided myself in being fully engaged with my team and the detailed drivers of the business regardless of my position. I feel the same way about Aspire and our board meetings. There should be a deep sense of responsibility to contribute when you participate in anything. And, that is especially important when it involves giving back. To paraphrase Erskine Bowles, we all have a responsibility to add some wood to the woodpile for the community, not just ourselves. This isn’t hard to do when you have a cause as worthy as we have at Aspire.

In what other ways are you involved in the community?

In my career, I have been involved with Habitat for Humanity, United Way, local Chambers of Commerce, economic development with the North Carolina General Assembly, and, as an alumnus of Wake Forest University, supporting students and graduates of their business school.

What do you think is the greatest opportunity ahead for ASPIRE?

Building upon its early success. I had the privilege of participating in a Community Business Academy (CBA) session and was inspired by both the expertise of the instructors and the engagement of the participants. It was graduate-school level instruction and teamwork. Truly impressive. Furthering that work with as many new entrepreneurs from the community as possible will have a lasting impact on both those individuals and our region. Then, add Aspire’s emerging capability to provide direct access to capital to businesses to help them grow and there is a lot of opportunity ahead.

–

Leverage Your Resources – Choose ASPIRE!

ASPIRE selected as one of the Premier Technical Assistance Providers for the Beyond Open Grant

–

ABOUT ASPIRE:

ASPIRE Community Capital specializes in creating opportunities for self-sufficiency through financial independence, business development, and entrepreneurship training through our strategic wrap around business programs such as: Business Readiness, Community Business Academy, Business Accelerator Services and Access to Capital. Join us today as we CHANGE THE WORLD one business at a time.

www.aspirecommunitycapital.org