The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recognized Kym Ramsey founder and owner of the Willow school, May 9th, as the 2019 Eastern Pennsylvania veteran small business owner of the year.

Founded in 2012, The Willow School located in the heart of Norristown focuses on the development of each student. Their mission is to instill self- confidence, and leadership skills into each student that will later convert into higher academic success. They accomplish this by maintaining a warm and loving environment for their students all while providing quality curriculum. Correspondingly, The Willow school is, in fact, the symbol of peace and safety.

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Ramsey stated that the Willow school’s name was inspired by the Willow tree she grew up with as a child. Making frequent trips to Alabama, she and her family would churn ice cream and have frequent barbecues underneath the Willow tree in the backyard of their families southern home. The trunk symbolizes the foundation of one’s soul and emotions, and the branches represent having a safety net of supportive family, friends, and a community that protects you. The Willow school aspires to be the foundation of their children’s upbringing and to be the safety net for each student Kym says. Furthermore, The Willow school has obtained a Keystone 4 rating as an indication of quality early learning experiences for student academic outcomes. As a result, the school has received government tuition reimbursements that allow the school to afford higher teacher salaries that improved the number of employees. Equally, the revenue for the school has increased by almost 10%. Moreover, the school has experienced a growth of request for tours and enrollment by 50%.

In response, The Willow schools increase in enrollment has put the school in a prosperous position to open up additional classrooms for incoming students. In addition to the success of The Willow school, Ramsey graduated from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service with a B.S. degree in International Economics and Portuguese. She then was commissioned into the U.S army as a 2nd lieutenant in 1988. Ramsey, head command of the Headquarters division had her first assignment with the 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Casey, Korea- The closest camp to DMZ that any female has deployed.

After four years of active duty, Kym went into an inactive reserve to pursue her masters in Business Administration with a focus in Human Resource Management at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas Texas. Ramsey aspires to keep evolving in her business and encourages other small businesses to have the same ambition.

One advice that she has for small business owners starting off is to be a risk taker and to have some stamina. Ramsey states: “There will be some hardships as a business owner but keep trucking forward and to keep learning.”

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