Entrepreneurship boot camps for qualified disabled veterans are supported by at least eight business schools around the United States and are helping disabled veterans make their dreams of entrepreneurship a reality. This consortium of universities comprises the University of California, Los Angeles; Syracuse University; Texas A&M University; Florida State University; Purdue University; University of Connecticut; Cornell University; and Louisiana State University. Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management in New York was the first to offer the program for veterans disabled as a result of their military service since Sept. 11, 2001. Syracuse and FSU offer the only entrepreneurship programs for veterans’ families and spouses of the fallen.
In addition to boot camp instruction, mentoring from former Marine officers who are now entrepreneurs has also been instrumental in leading Lathon in the right direction. Marylyn Harris, vice chairman of the SBA Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs, advocates having several mentors. “Each one should give you another source of strength and enlightenment, and they don’t all have to be in your geographical space,†says Harris, who works closely with Syracuse’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families and was a facilitator of the inaugural Kauffman FastTrac NewVenture (www.fast
trac.org) course for Houston veterans. She adds that the mentor channels the aspiring businessperson’s desire by the example he or she sets. “That person has a network that is working for them. You want to be a player within that network, moving and shaking like this mentor, making deals, making money, and impacting society.â€
Harris served 11 years in the U.S. Army and deployed to Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War in support of Operation Desert Storm. Trained as a psychiatric nurse practitioner, she owns Harrland Healthcare Consulting L.L.C., a Houston-based VA-verified business whose clients include VA hospitals, the Army, and the Air Force. She completed the EBV program at FSU, as well as the Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship conference and the National Center for Veterans in Procurement program, an educational training program designed to help service-disabled and veteran-owned businesses win federal contracts.
Educational boot camps are not the only training ground. Other resources for disabled veterans include the VetFran program (www.vetfran.com), established in 1991 by the International Franchise Association. The organization has partnered with the SBA and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Under VetFran, more than 530 franchises offer veterans incentives to invest.
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