About UsVeterans
Business Programs
Serving the Veterans of New York State
Veterans
Business Outreach Program |
Veterans Services & Assistance Program
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NYS SBDC Veterans Impact: 1999-2008 |
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| Veterans Counseled: | 10,855 |
| Total Counseling Hours: | 83,637 |
| Vet Training Events: | 130 |
| Vet Training Attendees: | 9,185 |
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| William Ketcham is successful graduate of the Veterans Business Outreach Program and the 2008 NYS SBDC Veteran Entrepreneur of the Year. | |
Publications for Veterans |
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The NYS SBDC Veterans’ Business Outreach Program and the Veterans Services and Assistance Program work in coordination to provide targeted training, counseling, and mentoring to help veterans start and grow a small business. SBDC Business Advisors help veteran small business owners improve profitability, expand market share, explore export opportunities, and provide valuable assistance in terms of establishing businesses on stronger organizational and financial footing.
The Veterans Business Advisors provide:
- One-to-one advisement sessions
- Pre-business plan workshops/training
- Business concept assessment
- Business plan development assistance
- Comprehensive feasibility analyses
- Business-to-business commerce
- Assistance with funding sources
The NYS program has Veterans’ Business Outreach Centers in Buffalo, Albany, and Farmingdale (Long Island) staffed by Business Advisors who are veterans dedicated to helping fellow veterans. In nine years, the award-winning program has provided advisement to more than 10,000 veterans and located more than $160 million in investment funding for veterans. The U.S. Small Business Administration has called the New York SBDC program a national model for providing business assistance and targeted outreach to veterans.
The Veterans Services and Assistance Program is staffed by a dedicated business advisor who is responsible for providing veterans business services within the five boroughs of New York City.
Veterans Behind Bars
Veterans Behind Bars is an innovative part of VBOP that was developed to assist incarcerated veterans within three to four years of release to develop business concepts and plans that can be turned into successful businesses upon these soldiers’ return to society. Participants must be honorably discharged veterans eligible for the Veteran’s Residential Program and within four years of release. Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in Staten Island and Groveland Correctional Facility in Rochester are the participating sites. NYS SBDC business advisors go behind bars a few times a month to provide free business planning seminars and workshops to veterans who sign up for the voluntary program. Advisors provide guidance on business plan development and topics necessary for successful small business operation. The training program covers all aspects
of starting/operating a business, including financial planning, accounting, marketing, production, hiring and more. Participants are encouraged to continue accessing SBDC services following release. The goal is to equip veterans with the tools they’ll need to start their own business once they have left the facility.
Another innovative development within VBOP is the creation of a web-based/CD-ROM-based interactive educational program that teaches veterans to be successful entrepreneurs. EntreSkills for Veterans™ is based on the successful EntreSkills™ program developed by the SBDC Office of Entrepreneurial Education (OE2). VBOP Business Advisors assisted in an upgraded and targeted version of these materials based on a simple premise: military training and experience can be an excellent preparation for starting your own business. The self-paced program helps veterans refine and develop a concept, address legal and marketing issues, prepare financial statements, and ultimately, manage and run a business. Each section includes self-correcting quizzes, an abundance of links to useful business-related websites, and entrepreneur case studies. The sections build cumulatively toward the preparation of a finished business plan. EntreSkills for Veterans™ operates in tandem with one-on-one business counseling by VBOP Business Advisors. The SBDC is working with the New York State Office of Veterans Affairs to qualify EntreSkills for Veterans™ for veterans’ educational credit.
If you and/or your business is outside New York, look to these other Veterans Business Outreach Centers:
- Veterans Business Outreach Center - Region III (serving veterans in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, and the District of Columbia)
Veterans Business Outreach Center
Robert Morris University
600 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219
Contact: Regional Coordinator, Mr. Richard G. Portis or
Project Manager, Ms. Danyael F. Clark
Phone: (412) 397-6842 or toll free: 1-866-929-6243
Fax: (412) 397-6850
E-mail - Veterans Business Outreach Center - California
VBOC
7270 E. Southgate Drive
Sacramento, California 95823
Contact: Indria Gillespie, Business Development Specialist
Phone: 916.393.8387 ext. 25
Fax: 916.393.8389
E-mail
- Veterans’ Business Outreach Center - Region IV (serving veterans in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee)
VBOC
2500 Minnesota Avenue
Lynn Haven, FL 32444
Phone: 800.542.7232
Fax: 850.271.1109
E-mail
- The University of Texas - Pan American - Region VI (serving veterans in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas)
UTPA Annex - VBOC
1201 W University Drive
Edinburg, TX 78539-2999
Phone: 956.292.7535
Fax: 956,292.7561
E-mail
