A small business consultant speaks to sailors aboard the USS Green Bay during a Boots to Business seminar on Aug. 10, 2016. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Patrick Dionne/Navy)
Would-be veteran entrepreneurs planning to leave the military and launch their own businesses need more access to capital and support services to succeed in their efforts, outside advocates told lawmakers last week.
“We have to elevate the conversation related to veteran business ownership in this country in a way where those interested become networked,” said Michael Haynie, executive director of the Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families, during a House Small Business Committee hearing.
“We need something akin to a health care network, where we can manage the coordination and the navigation of veteran-owned businesses through [available] resources,” Haynie added. “It starts at the local community level, extends to the state level, and then available increased federal resources, primarily from the Small Business Administration.”
The hearing comes as federal officials have reported an uptick in new business launches in the wake of massive layoffs and furloughs during the American coronavirus pandemic.
In April, SBA administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman said that business applications have risen more than 30% from pre-pandemic levels, with 5.4 million new ones filed in 2021 alone.
Past research has shown that veterans make up an outsized portion of that entrepreneur workforce. Veterans are 45% more likely to be self-employed than non-veterans, and roughly one-in-ten veterans own their own firm, according to SBA.
But Haynie and other advocates told lawmakers that those links between the military and small business ownership don’t always lead to smooth transitions for veteran start-ups.
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Author: Military Times
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