Biz Boost To Military Families

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November 15, 2010 by Rich Whittle | 4 Comments

The Wall Street Journal reports that several new programs that aim to help military family members and veterans start businesses were announced last week.

The Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, along with sponsor Ernst & Young, is offering “boot camp” for entrepreneurs. The program—open to family members who are full-time caretakers of wounded veterans, as well as surviving spouses of those who lost their lives in combat—consists of a four-week online course, followed by a week of classes and a year of mentoring.

Nelida Bagley of Tampa is among the participants in the program’s inaugural class, which started last month. Her son, Army Staff Sergeant Jose Pequeno, was severely injured while deployed to Iraq in 2006 and can no longer walk or speak. Bagley has since quit her job as a supervisor for a manufacturing company to care for her son full time, and is relying on her daughter for financial support.

Bagley is now hoping to launch a home-based business to help parents of disabled children get answers to questions about their health-care, financial and other options. In the boot camp, she’s learning how to write a business plan and other start-up basics. “I was clueless how to do this,” she says. “This program is a tremendous relief.”

Syracuse and the SBA announced they’re partnering on two more entrepreneur boot camps slated for 2011. These will include a program for helping National Guard members, Reservists and their families launch businesses and another for women veterans looking to do the same.