Business and Professional Women's New Greenville Chapter Launches

Maria Meinke, president of the new Business and Professional Women Greenville Chapter says female business owners should support each other.

The chapter officially launched Thursday night, holding its first meeting at Velocity Sports and Performance in Powdersville.

“Women, we need to promote each other in the workplace for equal pay and for success in our careers and we also need to work together to try to achieve a work/life balance because women have such a different situation then men,” Meinke said. “We have to balance family and children and also, most of us, full time careers, so that's a little different.”

The Business and Professional Women organization gives women an opportunity to foment change.

“When we support each other, we have a lot more power,” Meinke said. “Women together have a lot larger voice. This kind of group has the ability to make a lot of changes and do a lot of positive things for our community.”

BPW State President Terrie Albright spoke to Meinke about the possibility of launching a Greenville chapter of the club.

There are a number of chapters in the Upstate, but Greenville did not have its own chapter.

Meinke co-owns Cossban Software & Networking, works in Greenville, is a Powdersville resident and an active member of the Easley BPW chapter.

“I decided just to go ahead and do it, because I thought it was an awesome idea, and I really enjoy being part of the Easley group,” she said.

The BPW is different from other networking groups, Meinke said.

“We have three career awards that we give out,” she said. “One is the Young Careerist, there's Woman of Accomplishment and also Career Woman of the Year. Those are really important because it's a way to recognize women who achieve great success in the workplace.”

“This is an exciting moment for the Business and Professional Women of South Carolina,” Albright said. “The larger our group, the larger our voice.”

The organization's theme this year is LUCKY, Albright said.

“Ladies Uniting, Connecting, Kindling, You,” she said, adding the group's goal is to encourage connections between the different chapters. “Together, we're going to broaden our horizons and reach out to a larger radius of women. We love rich history but we cannot survive without youth. We've got to have youth, we've got to have technology, we've got to have gals willing to come up through the ranks and get this organization up off the ground.”

She thanked Meinke for her hard work in getting the chapter organized.

“She really pulled it together in a short period of time,” Albright said.

Albright then officially presented Meinke with the Greenville chapter's charter and then pinned her as president of the new chapter.

“It's all yours, hon,” Albright said at the conclusion of the ceremony, drawing applause from the crowd.

Meinke said she'd “really love to see this get going and women grow stronger in the community and really make our presence known.”

The BPW “gives back,” she said.

“We're going to support some charities,” Meinke said. “I'd like to see us adopt a charity a month.”

Membership dues are $75 are a year. Student memberships are available for $25 a year. Dues go to fund the college scholarships that the club will award each year.

Meetings will rotate at different locations, including the businesses of members, she said.

“So we can see what you do and what your job is about,” Meinke said.

A website is in the works and the Greenville Chapter also has a Facebook page.

To join the Greenville BPW, call Meinke at 864-871-3314 Maria Meinke or email Maria@cossban.com.