Veterans are noted for their discipline, fellowship, organizational skills and ability to strategize, according to recent research from the Veterans Future Lab at the New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering, which could explain why they are nearly twice as likely to be self-employed compared to non-veterans.
Still, without the right educational tools, the growth of businesses is limited, veteran entrepreneurs explained in the 2017 Entrepreneurship Research report by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, citing three common challenges they encounter: difficulty accessing capital, limited or no opportunities to network and difficulty developing mentorships.
To help bridge this gap, the Small Business Development Center at Niagara County Community College is offering its first-ever Veteran Entrepreneur Series with the objective of giving back to the local veteran community and their families.
“We benefit from the community on a lot of different levels, so we want to make sure we’re giving back, especially to veterans,” said center director Maureen Henderson. “They’ve obviously given a lot to the county and to our country.”
Available to any veteran or family member of a veteran conducting or planning to conduct business in New York state, the free series began on April 26, 2022, and offers one class on the fourth Tuesday of each month until Dec. 13, 2022.
“There are nine classes, and each class is an individual session on a separate topic,” said Henderson. “People can come to just the ones that they are interested in, or they can come to all nine.”
Topics include startup basics, understanding your financial picture and marketing for small businesses. Henderson teaches the classes, along with a few presentations by veteran business owners.
“Because we have people at such various stages, the series is not just for startups,” she said. “We may have someone who’s been in business for years but has never used their veteran status in their marketing or has never taken advantage of veteran-specific education or a finance program.”
The program also hosts free one-on-one sessions with mentors at the college to personally assist participants with their business development journeys.
“We encourage everyone who comes to our training to reach out and connect with a counselor so they can continue to build on their knowledge and have, essentially, a coach to rein everything in and go over everything with them,” said Henderson.
The Veteran Entrepreneur Series is made possible, in part, by a $25,644 grant awarded to the college via the Verizon Media Community Benefit Fund, a 2015 effort to develop a customer care and data center in Niagara County. Additionally, the grant allows for the redesign of the veterans lounge on campus, where classes are held for those who prefer in-person rather than remote sessions, which are also available online.
“We just want to make it as easy as possible for veterans to get all of the information about their benefits and any help that they need,” said Henderson.
For more information, click here.
