SBA and resource partners such as the
SBDC, Women’s Business Centers, and SCORE are committed to providing Veteran
entrepreneurs and small business owners great business support services. That’s certainly true at the Center for
Business & Innovation in Lacey where they offer free business advising,
mentoring and coaching, and no- and low-cost workshops and trainings.
Additionally, thanks to special
funding made available by the Lacey City Council, Lacey-based veterans wanting
to start a business in Lacey can get some extra help.
For those who meet eligibility
requirements, Lacey veterans also can get:
- Free registration to an 8-week, high
value business start-up course
- Services of a professional plan
writer to polish their business plan and financial projections
- Business start-up grants
- A peer group of fellow veteran
entrepreneurs for camaraderie and support
For more information, contact the
Center for Business and Innovation, a program of the Thurston Economic
Development Council: 360.754.6320; veterans@thurstonedc.com;
or www.thurstonedc.com/veterans.
This is a great time to be a woman veteran on the path to entrepreneurship. So much progress is being made in the growth of successful veteran women-owned businesses. Much of that vibrant advancement is based on the network of education, counseling and access to capital provided by the SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development (OVBD), the Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO) programs, and SBA’s resource partners.
The SBA has presented a report to Congress focusing on the Agency’s outreach to aspiring and established veteran women entrepreneurs. SBA’s Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) and Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs) are the primary resource partners for women veterans looking to start and/or grow their businesses as well as SBA’s Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and SCORE. These centers contribute greatly to the phenomenal growth of women veteran entrepreneurs.
The report to Congress included U.S. Census data, reflecting the uptick of women veteran entrepreneurship, along with some compelling demographic information about women veterans:
- Women represent about 15 percent of active duty military, 18.8 percent of the Reserve and Guard, and 20 percent of new recruits, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. Nearly 280,000 women have served Post 9/11 in Afghanistan and Iraq.
- The total women veteran population in the U.S. and its territories is 2,035,213.
- As of 2012, there are 383,302 veteran women-owned businesses in the U.S. This reflects an increase from 2007 of nearly 300 percent, or an additional 286,188 businesses.
- In 2007, 4 percent of U.S. businesses were women-owned. By 2012, it increased to 15.2 percent.
- In 2012, veteran women-owned businesses with no employees generated a total of $17.9 billion in receipts (businesses with employees generate a total of $10.9 billion).
Meanwhile, in 2015 SBA’s 7(a) and 504 loan programs provided 239 loans to veteran women-owned firms totaling $87 million, representing a significant increase over the last five years.
To view the full blog post and an extensive list of resources available to women and women veteran entrepreneurs, click here.
For the eighth year in a row, the Emerging Leaders class has started in Seattle. The intensive entrepreneurship education series includes approximately 100 hours of classroom time during seven months from April through October. Upon completion of the course, participants have a three-year growth action plan and a network of peers and industry experts. 20 local entrepreneurs where selected out of more than 170 applicants.
 (top left) Nancy Porzio, SBA Seattle's District Director, interacts with Tim Logozzo, a former Emerging Leader's participant. (top right) Melanie Norton, Economic Development Specialist for the SBA, gives opening remarks welcoming the participants and explaining what's in store for them over the coming year. (center) (left-to-right) Mike Gray, Cheryl Sands, Carolyn Hurst, and Tim Logozzo, discuss things they had learned during their time as Emerging Leaders participants and highlighting the benefits of the course. (Bottom) The 2016 Emerging Leaders participants pose for a group photo. (U.S. Small Business Administration photos by Public Affairs Specialist Matthew D. Williams/Released)
The 2016 Emerging Leaders participants:
- Diana Ambauen-Meade - Scratch and Peck Feeds
- Afrose Amlani - Living Montessori Education Community
- Giuseppe Carraturo - V I Wines Distributing
- Kirsten Curry - Leading Retirement Solutions, LLC
- Amy Ecklund - AmyWorks Inc.
- Dillon Eugenio - Compass Plumbing
- Scott George - Port Madison Enterprises Construction
- Elia Grogan - Laboratory Design & Construction
- Meg Halverson - Bright Spring Strategy Consulting
- Clay Hand - TRS Mechanical, Inc.
- Cory Hesseltine - Eco Electric
- Christopher Johnson - WMST LLC
- Jessica McMurdie - Stepping Stones Occupational Therapy
- Ida Ottesen - Nakano Associates
- Andrea Ramos Moore - GFF
- Marianna Shilna Vallejo - Daily Magic Productions
- Debbie Skala (Kepla) - Metal Shorts Inc.
- Scott Smuin - Luna Sandals
- Malcolm Waters - MCR Connect LLC
- Xiaoping Zhang - Concord Engineering, Inc
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