Business effort to help veterans reaches milestone

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s partner, National Center for Veteran Institute for Procurement (VIP) held a graduation ceremony this spring for 51 veteran and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and also celebrated the achievement of training 1,000 veteran entrepreneurs over the past nine years.

“Nearly one in 10 small businesses in the U.S. is owned by a veteran,” the SBA’s Althea Coetzee Leslie said in a recent statement.

“And the SBA is working – through our own efforts and with partners like VIP – to keep veteran entrepreneurship growing,” she said.

VIP trains participants to compete for federal procurement opportunities.

The three-day certification program’s curriculum is designed for veteran businesses to increase their ability to succeed by establishing effective business practices.

“The number of federal contracts awarded to service-disabled small businesses has exceeded the three percent goal every year since FY (fiscal year) 2012. We want more small businesses to qualify for these awards. That’s why we partner with VIP, to ensure qualified entrepreneurs get the training they need,” Leslie added.

Each year, SBA helps more than 200,000 veterans, service-disabled veterans, members of the National Guard and Reserve, and military spouses start and grow their small businesses.

To learn more about opportunities for veterans available through the SBA, visit www.sba.gov/vets