Leadership Profile

FASHIONABLE IMPACT

Mike Spagenberg hopes to empower local communities in Arizona with the State Forty Eight Foundation

By GABRIELLA HERRAN-ROMERO

What began as a brand inspired by Mike Spagenberg’s love for Arizona and fashion has turned into a much greater appreciation for his community.

“We wanted State Forty Eight to be more involved with the community, especially since it’s based on our local community here in Arizona,” says Spagenberg, the CEO and co-founder of State Forty Eight. “So it all began with collaborations with other local and nonprofit organizations in making apparel that benefited them, and then slowly we turned into an initiative, the State Forty Eight Community Impact Initiative, which began in 2019. For the initiative, we would have impact days where we would go out into the community and just give back in any way we could. For one of the days, we went to food banks and provided support by packing food bags for people in need. We just continued having these events for people to participate in. The initiative ended up getting a lot of amazing support, so in 2020, we officially launched the State Forty Eight Foundation with hopes to continue providing support to our local community.”

Adding onto the current initiative, which focuses on giving back through community outreach and engagement, the State Forty Eight Foundation centralizes on youth mentorship as well as assisting promising entrepreneurs with skills that will help them to succeed in the future.

Az Business: Why did you feel an organization like this is needed in Arizona?

Mike Spagenberg: We knew that there were other organizations doing their part in Arizona, and we wanted to do ours. We have such an incredible community behind us and had fostered such great relationships with other organizations through our collaborations, and so we figured we’d put those connections to use. I think us coming together really made a big impact, especially in an efficient way, and I think that’s what set us apart from some other organizations.

AB: Who do you hope to impact the most with the State Forty Eight Foundation?

MS: For mentorship and entrepreneurship, our main focus is reaching the youth. There are so many kids who are brought up without the right leadership or the skills needed, and for us,

FASHION-FORWARD

THINKING: Mike Spagenberg is the CEO and co-founder of State Forty Eight.

ensuring that these kids have good role models is everything. We feel like we could really make a difference in someone’s life especially if we could help set them up for success in the future. As for entrepreneurship, there isn’t really an age restriction. If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, we want to help. Whether that’s providing resources and scholarships or just giving practical tips, the main goal is to help as much as we can regardless of who needs help.

AB: You launched the foundation at the peak of the pandemic. What did you learn from that experience?

MS: We launched the foundation at probably the worst time to launch a foundation, but we learned how to adjust and make the best out of it. I think it really allowed for us to be more strategic because not a lot was going on. Although it was challenging, in the end I think it granted us more time to really focus and plan out things more clearly and thoughtfully.

AB: What goals do you have moving forward as the CEO and cofounder of the foundation?

MS: Our current goal for 2021 is to get the entrepreneurship program running. Right now, we’re finalizing all of our speakers and getting everything lined up, so just ensuring that the program is successful is my immediate goal. I also hope the program is able to garner a lot of attention and that we’ll be able to award scholarships as well.