Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and representative for America's over 33 million small businesses in President Biden’s Cabinet, announced today a $300,000 funding allocation to three organizations. These funds are intended to deliver the SBA’s Women Veteran Entrepreneurship Training Program (WVETP) to local veterans.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to honoring the service of the over two million women veterans in the U.S. by making sure we support those who are looking to start or grow a business,” said Administrator Guzman. “We are proud to invest in women veterans by collaborating with these incredible mission-driven organizations to deliver the SBA’s Women Veteran Entrepreneurship Training Program and empower women veterans with skills and guidance to build resilient businesses.”
The grant funding opportunity is provided by SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development. It supports each organization's programs that engage women veterans in entrepreneurship, helping them through the planning stages of a new business or finding new ways to grow their existing small business. Over 9,500 women veterans participated in WVETPs during fiscal year 2023.
The WVETP awardees are as follows:
1. Syracuse University’s D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families: Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE) (Syracuse, NY) – $150,000
2. ONABEN: Beyond the Boots: A Veteran and Service Member Initiative (Tulsa, OK) – $75,000
3. Utah Veteran Business Resource Center (VBRC) at Salt Lake Community College: Startup Training Resources to Inspire Veteran Entrepreneurship (STRIVE) (Salt Lake City, UT) – $75,000
For more information about SBA’s programs for veterans, visit www.sba.gov/veterans.
The U.S. Small Business Administration is the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government. The SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations.
The SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development (OVBD) works through the SBA’s extensive resource partner network, which includes Small Business Development Centers, SCORE, Women’s Business Centers, and 28 VBOCs located throughout the nation. Since its inception in 2013, Boots to Business has trained and graduated more than 200,000 service members, veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, and military spouses.