Brooks to receive Latino Business Center Entrepreneur Award

Small Towns
Contact(s)

Griselda Rendon, Latino loan specialist, griseldar@cfra.org, 308.850.4820; or Rhea Landholm, brand marketing and communications manager, rheal@cfra.org, 402.687.2100 ext 1025

LYONS, NEBRASKA – The Center for Rural Affairs has chosen Rosa Maria Brooks, of Hastings, Nebraska, to receive the 2018 Latino Entrepreneur Award. She will be recognized at an award ceremony on March 8 in York, Nebraska.

The Latino Entrepreneur Award is presented annually to an entrepreneur who has effectively utilized the services of the Center, is successfully operating and growing their business, and who best exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit that is so crucial to Latino-owned businesses and the rural Nebraska communities they call home.

Brooks is the owner of Rosa Maria’s Wellness Spirit and Astrology of Healing Center LLC, which she started in 2009. She offers massages, cupping, hot stones, essential oils, and aroma therapy.

The owner is originally from Bogota, Columbia, and has been a Center for Rural Affairs client since 2013. She has received one-on-one technical and loan assistance.

“Rosa Maria is a very outgoing, successful business owner who does not give up, and is always looking for new ways to bring in new customers,” said Griselda Rendon, loan specialist with the Center for Rural Affairs. “She is very attentive and caring with her customers and makes everyone feel welcome.”

Brooks has also attended Center for Rural Affairs training events including the annual Women Entrepreneur Conference, the Latino Business Walking Tour in Grand Island, and more.

The business has recently expanded with hours twice per week in York, and Brooks has plans to start office hours in Grand Island.

 

Established in 1973, the Center for Rural Affairs is a private, non-profit organization working to strengthen small businesses, family farms and ranches, and rural communities through action oriented programs addressing social, economic, and environmental issues.

Center for Rural Affairs receives funding from the Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Nebraska Business and Innovation Act through the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, U.S. Department of Treasury, Peter Kiewit Foundation, and other sources. Women’s Business Center is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All Small Business Administration funded programs and services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities and/or persons with limited English proficiency will be made if requested in advance. This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.