The Small Business Administration's Office of Veterans Business Development is proud to announce that 50 thousand service members and military spouses have participated in the SBA's Boots to Business Program, since the program began in 2012. The 50,000th graduate was a service member at McConnell Air Force Base, in Wichita, Kansas, pictured below.
In the four years since the program began, Boots to Business has provided entrepreneurship training and counseling to veterans, service-disabled veterans, military spouses, and National Guard and Reserve service members. The latest Boots to Business graduate joins a growing number of successful military community entrepreneurs, adding to the 2.4 million current veteran-owned businesses, which employ over 5 million Americans. Veteran-owned businesses are making enormous contributions to the e growth of the American economy.
The delivery of the Boots to Business Program is accomplished through partnerships with the SBA resource partner network, which includes SCORE, Small Business Development Centers, Women's Business Centers and Veterans Business Outreach Centers, the Department of Defense, local SBA district offices and transition service managers.
Today, Boots to Business provides free entrepreneurship training programs in more than 165 military installations and military communities. Graduates of the program are 53 percent more likely to start a business, and 91 percent of those new businesses remain in operation a year later.
Boots to Business has launched the entrepreneurial careers of numerous service members, veterans, and military spouses, such as:
- Michael and Kerry Stacks - Bold Mariner Brewing Company – Leveraged assistance from his local VBOC to secure an SBA backed loan to start a brewing company with his wife, Kerry.
- Torrance Hart - Teak & Twine – Built on the Boots to Business training, and counseling from her local VBOC to start a successful e-commerce business when she left the Air Force.
- Tony Turin - Mt. Hood Eye Care – Attended a Boots to Business workshop to learn the fundamentals of opening an optometry business with his wife, Kim. His business plan received a $15,000 grant from “Citi Salutes,” a Citicorp bank program that supports the greater veterans' community .
- Thom Besch, Col. (Ret.), US Army - Veteran Solar Systems –contacted a local VBOC and attended a Reboot class to find resources for his existing solar panel business.
Service members, wishing to participate in Boots to Business should contact their Transition Assistance Program (TAP) coordinator to learn more, or visit the website at www.sba.gov/bootstobusiness.
During National Veterans Small Business Week Oct. 31 to Nov. 4, and in the following weeks, share your veteran small business success story or show your appreciation for veteran entrepreneurs by joining the conversation online using #MyVetBiz.
To learn more about National Veterans Small Business Week events, courses and resources built to support your entrepreneurial success, visit www.sba.gov/myvetbiz..