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VETERANS BUSINESS OUTREACH CENTER
AT MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY EXPAND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Jackson, MS – During FY 2015, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced it planned to provide funding for 14 Veteran Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs) across the country. This funding enabled these specialized centers to provide counseling, training and other comprehensive business assessment and mentoring services to a growing customer segment. This segment included veteran, service-disabled veteran entrepreneurs, Reserve Component, National Guard and transitioning service members interested in starting or expanding a small business.
Mississippi State University was one of the recipients selected for this veteran focused program. In its initial operating year, the center worked tirelessly to market its services exhibited by the 300 individual counseling sessions it provided to the veteran community. Additionally, the VBOC in its support to transitioning service members carried out numerous special initiatives most notably the “Boots to Business” (B2B) and “Reboot” program throughout a four state area. This service provides critical components for helping veterans embark towards a path of self-employment through entrepreneurship. The Mississippi State VBOC’s coverage area includes Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Louisiana.
“We are pleased in Mississippi, to have a resource available that is home-based in our state set up to provide much needed support and assistance to our veterans,” says SBA Mississippi District Director Janita Stewart. “Although the VBOC is still relatively new, it seems to be off to a good start in helping Mississippi veterans that are business owners or those who want to become business owners avail themselves to counseling, capital and contracting programs and services which would lead them to opportunities for development and growth.”
The mission of SBA’s Office of Veteran Business Development is to formulate, execute and promote policies and programs to empower veteran small business ownership through education and access to capital. The office also serves as the Ombudsman for Veterans in SBA programs, to act as a liaison with the veterans’ business community, to provide business training and counseling assistance, and to oversee the federal procurement programs to veteran and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses.
“The Veterans Business Outreach Center is committed to helping our Nation’s veterans with starting the business they always dreamed of,” says Parker Stewart, Director of the Mississippi State University VBOC. “We will work as hard as they do to get their company off the ground.”
Each year the SBA helps more than 200,000 veterans, service-disabled veterans and reservists start and grow their small businesses. To learn more about additional opportunities for veterans available through the SBA, visit www.sba.gov/vets.
