SBA launches program to help veterans become entrepreneurs - Business, Government Legal News from throughout WV

 The U.S. Small Business Administration has joined the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to launch a training program for transitioning service members and veterans to help them become entrepreneurs.

Operation Boots to Business: From Service to Startup is a national initiative that will be piloted with the U.S. Marine Corps. 

 "Our service men and women have made incalculable contributions and sacrifices for our country, and supporting them as they pursue their dreams to start or grow their own business is one of our highest priorities," SBA Administrator Karen Mills said.  "Through this partnership, we stand ready with support, entrepreneurial training, and resources that are critical tools to help them start businesses, drive economic growth and create jobs for themselves and their communities."

 Each year, more than 250,000 service members transition out of the military.  Nine percent of small businesses are veteran-owned. 

These 2.45 million veteran-owned businesses employ more than 5 million individuals.  In the private sector workforce, veterans are more likely than those with no active-duty military experience to be self-employed. 

 The SBA will help connect veterans with its resource partner network – Small Business Development Centers, Women's Business Centers, SCORE, and Veterans Business Opportunity Centers – for support through the life cycle of their new businesses.

Through its ongoing collaboration with Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families, the SBA also will provide comprehensive training materials specifically geared toward transitioning service members. 

SBA partners will coordinate training and services at military bases around the country, delivering a face-to-face introductory entrepreneurship course. 

In addition, Syracuse University and its affiliated university partners will provide an intensive eight-week online business planning training for service members who choose to continue to pursue entrepreneurship after the face-to-face introductory course.  Afterwards, service members and veterans will be referred to Small Business Development Centers, Women's Business Centers, SCORE chapters and Veterans Business Opportunity Centers for counseling and training through the lifetime of their business.

The program will pilot in four locations: Quantico, Va., Cherry Point, N.C., Camp Pendleton, Calif., and Twenty-Nine Palms, Calif.  It will be expanded across the nation during fiscal year 2013 with the goal of providing entrepreneurial training and awareness to transitioning service members from all branches of the military.