THATCHER — The next wave of entrepreneurs are ready to enliven the Gila Valley.
Nineteen of the 25 participants in the latest Graham County cohort of the Dreambuilder program were on hand at Eastern Arizona College on Tuesday to receive their certificates of graduation and a gift basket.
“I knew that there were things that I didn’t know about business — I just jumped in and got started — so I really wanted to know what don’t I know, what should I be looking for, and how do I do this well,” said Maria Waterhouse, owner of LJX Mobile Tinting.
– David Bell Photo/Gila Valley Central
Dreambuilder was created in 2011 as an online-only program by Freeport-McMoRan and the Thunderbird School of Global Management at ASU to help women own and grow businesses in Spanish-language countries.
It was brought to the United States and the innovation by the Small Business Development Center at Eastern Arizona College to incorporate in-person sessions with the online modules has now been adopted as the Dreambuilder model statewide.
Torey Cranford, SBDC business analyst and Dreambuilder facilitator, said the 13 online modules take 25-30 hours to complete and, with the in-person sessions, participants invest about 60 hours toward development of their businesses.
“I wanted to do business better. I was kind of learning on my own, and getting things set up on my own, but I wanted to make sure I was doing it correctly,” said Mona Early, owner of Tutoring with Mona, explaining why she took the Dreambuilder program.
– David Bell Photo/Gila Valley Central
Speakers at the graduation included Keith Alexander, with EAC; Karen Stamm, with the Arizona Commerce Authority; and Vicki Seppala, general manager of Freeport-McMoRan’s Safford operation.
“You’ve done more than just learn about business plans, and marketing strategies, and financial models, and all the other things,” Seppala said. “You’ve learned a bit about yourself, and you’ve learned about what it’s going to take to do all of this.”
The graduates also received a pre-recorded video of congratulations from U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Ariz.
2026 Graham County Dreambuilder Graduates
- Sonya Archuleta
- Jen Battista
- Lynda Bennett
- Andrea Carrell
- Carmen Cordova
- Debbie Domninguez
- Mona Early
- Karen Fox
- Amy Fulps
- Candice Garcia
- Wendilynn Kerezman
- Tanner Kimbrough
- Sarah Knight
- Michelle McCormick
- Erica Merrill
- Vonna Nitchals
- Melia Mullenauz
- Kasey Norlund
- Gabriella Pena
- Ruby Santiesteban
- Crystal Soto
- Kayla Valles
- Leah Vigil
- Maria Waterhouse
- Shelly Wilson
