BBB's Petraeus to visit Fort Hood area

Killeen, Texas, August 27, 2007
Holly Petraeus, Director of the Better Business Bureau's Military Line® program and an Army spouse of over 33 years, is scheduled to visit the Fort Hood area during the first week of October.

BBB Military Line, the focus of Petraeus' visit, is designed to bring the full range of BBB resources to the Military consumer. Consisting of a custom website (www.military.bbb.org) and a number of specially created educational presentations, the program intends to address the unique financial challenges facing a vital but vulnerable population.

"We want military families to realize that, no matter where they are located, they can go to BBB for a variety of free consumer services: business and charity reliability reports; assistance with consumer complaints; and educational programs, to name a few," Petraeus says of BBB Military Line Program.

"Individual soldier's paychecks are not large, but collectively an Army post like Fort Hood has a huge payroll, and that attracts unethical as well as legitimate businesses. The goal of BBB Military Line is to help soldiers and their families to be smart about where and how they spend their money."

Mrs. Petraeus, the wife and daughter of career Army officers, has extensive experience as a volunteer leader in military family programs. In that role she has worked with local, state and national legislators on issues affecting Army families, to include testifying at two U.S. Senate hearings on deployment-related issues.

At the time of her appointment to head of BBB Military Line program Petraeus noted that, "It's understandable that military families would be under stress when a family member is serving abroad. BBB Military Line services can assist those families in making wise consumer decisions as well as help when things go wrong."

During her visit to the Fort Hood area, Petraeus will be the featured speaker at the Financial Readiness Seminar and Business Showcase sponsored by Better Business Bureau and the Killeen Daily Herald on October 5th at the Killeen Convention and Conference Center.

Mrs. Petraeus will also participate in a Military Child Education Coalition's "Tell Me a Story" event involving a hundred children and their parents, speak with a number of Army and community leaders and officials and travel to San Antonio where she will meet with officials representing area military installations.

About BBB Military Line

BBB Military Line is a program of the non-profit U.S. Better Business Bureau (BBB) system, and encourages service members, retirees, DoD civilians and their families to use the free consumer services and materials offered by BBB.

BBB is proud to be a partner in the DoD Financial Readiness Campaign.

About BBB System

BBB is an unbiased, non-profit entity that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. Businesses and charities that earn BBB membership contractually agree and adhere to the organization's high standards of ethical business behavior. BBB provides objective advice, free business Reliability Reports and charity Wise Giving Reports, and educational information on topics affecting marketplace trust. BBB also offers complaint and dispute resolution support for consumers who need help with unfair or unethical business treatment. The first BBB was founded in 1912. Today, 128 BBBs serve communities across the U.S. and Canada, evaluating and monitoring more than 3 million local and national businesses and charities. Please visit www.bbb.org for more information about the BBB System.

This Better Business Bureau is currently supported by approximately 6,900 member businesses and serves more than 3,000,000 consumers in its 52-county service area in Texas. These counties include: Atascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Bosque, Burnet, Caldwell, Calhoun, Comal, Comanche, Coryell, Dewitt, Dimmit, Edwards, Falls, Fayette, Freestone, Frio, Goliad, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Hamilton, Hays, Hill, Jackson, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Kinney, Lampasas, LaSalle, Lavaca, Limestone, Llano, Maverick, McLennan, McMullen, Medina, Mills, Navarro, Real, San Saba, Travis, Uvalde, Val Verde, Victoria, Webb, Williamson, Wilson, and Zavala.

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