VBP helps two SeaBee veterans get into business for themselves.
https://youtu.be/GXrJ2d0SvbE VBP helps two SeaBee veterans get into business for themselves.
VIDEO: Mike Tobin of Fox News on VETERAN BUSINESS PROJECT
VETERAN BUSINESS PROJECT (501c3) champions veteran entrepreneurship.
On Memorial Day, in particular, this is a powerful, poignant message. The sacrifice of these two fine, young Marines…and those like them since 1775 to the present…is precisely why America has survived and prospered as it has. It is they who’ve kept “the wolf away” from America’s doorstep to the present time. Freedom has never been free and never will be. God bless these fine American warriors and all those like them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvKo6SK-Jwc On Memorial Day, in particular, this is a powerful, poignant message. The sacrifice of these two fine, young Marines...and those like them since 1775 to the present...is precisely why America has survived and prospered as it has. It is they who’ve kept “the wolf away” from America’s doorstep to the present time. Freedom has never been free and never will be. God bless these fine American warriors and all those like them.
Q2 – 2020 Update
Amidst COVID-19, our volunteers dramatically stepped up efforts to support fellow veteran and military spouse business owners and entrepreneurs. For many business owners, survival has meant redesigning the airplane while flying it— not an easy feat, and this is reflected in our activities in the last quarter: 1. COVID-19 STRIKES CLOSE TO HOME. Almost all of us on the VBP team are business owners, some for decades. From our vantage, no small business is going to escape the pandemic without making fundamental changes in its SOP. Thankfully, EIDL and PPP funding has given us a couple more months to make critical adjustments. For those borrowers with SBA-guaranteed loans, having the SBA take over our debt service for six months bought us additional time. However, with the recent surge in coronavirus, we have all had to endure fits and starts. Sadly, what we have learned is that some of the smallest companies in our network have not been able to capitalize on either EIDL or PPP, and therefore had to shutter their businesses and/or furlough employees. National surveys show as much as a 25% failure rate for small businesses. We’ll be able to better gauge the situation when government relief funding runs out in September. Based on the statistic that 47.5% of workers are employed by small businesses, and that 40 million workers (a higher percentage than during the Great Depression) have filed for unemployment benefits, our estimate is that almost half of laid off workers are from the small business [...]
Webinar COVID-19 Small Business survival
Veteran Business Project personal provide nationwide webinar on COVID-19 Small Business survival. Stephanie Brown, CEO/Founder of The Rosie Network and a VBP Advisory Board member, hosted an innovative/informative national webinar to address the challenges facing veteran/milspouse small business owners. VBP’s CEO (Lynn Lowder), COO (Jim Wong) and CFO (Fred Parrish) provided critical information on federal loan programs, financial management for the near/long term, opportunities for mergers/acquisitions and more. Additional webinars will be announced soon.
SBA is preparing to disburse funds.
The SBA is preparing to disburse funds under the Paycheck Protection Program. Please spread the word...and stay tuned. https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-newsroom/press-releases-media-advisories/sbas-paycheck-protection-program-small-businesses-affected-coronavirus-pandemic-launches
Veteran Business Project Is Promoting A State Guaranteed Military Veteran Small Business Loan Program Across America
Lynn Lowder, Co-CEO of the Veteran Business Project, recently traveled to Missouri to meet with key personnel regarding the promotion of a Missouri veterans' state-guaranteed small business loan program. Other states to be approached near-term are Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, Nevada, Colorado and California. The Veteran Business Project's mission is to advance this program across America. Small business has always been the back-bone of the American economy and our country needs a small-business resurgence. Our military veterans richly deserve the opportunity to be a part of that effort and the Veteran Business Project is working to make their small business goals a reality.
Illinois’ Military Veteran Loan Guaranty Program Has A Leader In Place
1 VET AT A TIME was instrumental in the successful promotion and unanimous passage of Illinois Senate Bill 324 which created groundbreaking ability for a resident Illinois veteran to apply for a state-guaranted small business loan. The State of Illinois recently appointed Patrick Evans to head up this program. Interested Illinois veterans can find out more about the program by contacting Mr. Evans via email at: [email protected] or by telephone at: 618-741-1818.
PODCAST: 1 VET AT A TIME by Marine Veteran Lynn Lowder
1 VET AT A TIME Chief Executive Officer, Lynn Lowder, recently gave a podcast interview detailing the persistent challenge of lack of access to capital for military veterans who want to start their own business. 1 VET AT A TIME is leading the way in a very important, state-level initiative across the nation. https://www.acast.com/veteranonthemove/1-vet-at-a-time-with-marine-veteran-lynn-lowder
1 VET AT A TIME Returns from the UConn EBV Program
Lynn Lowder, CEO, and Marti Stiteler, COO, recently returned from Hartford, CT where they attended the last three (3) days of UConn School of Business' 7th Annual Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) program. It has been a resounding success year after year, principally due to the leadership of its Director, Lt. Col. Michael Zacchea, USMC (Ret.). Mike is a disabled combat veteran and author of a book entitled "The Ragged Edge" (www.theraggededgebook.com). He and his staff did a superb job, bringing much expertise to bear from a multitude of relevant and practical sources, all designed to help disabled, entrepreneurial veterans become successful small business owner-operators. The caliber of veteran students was varied by branch of service, rank, age, experience and type of business each student was pursuing. Abundantly evident was the individual veteran's heartfelt desire to learn, their motivation to become successful, their spirit of assisting each other and their desire to "pay it forward" by hiring and mentoring other veterans. In addition to his leadership in the UConn EBV program, Mike Zacchea is the Executive Director of the United States Veterans Chamber of Commerce (http://www.usvcc.org/), an IRS 501(c)(6) organization (application pending). This visionary concept is a membership-based organization that connects corporate, government and small businesses to our nation's veterans. 1 VET AT A TIME, as well as many other veteran-oriented organizations, are looking forward with great interest to the development and growth of the USVCC.
