May 18, 2016

Taking entrepreneurship training to veterans

By Steve B. Brooks
Careers
Taking entrepreneurship training to veterans
Henry Cruz of SCORE speaks with U.S. Army veteran Kala Butler at the Boots to Business Reboot Program at American Legion Post 170 in Rochelle Park, N.J., May 11, 2016. Photo by Amy Elliott

Department of New Jersey Legion post hosts two-day Boots to Business workshop.

Nicholas Bockey served in the Marines from 2004-2009, deploying to Iraq during his service. He came home, took a corporate job and then became a landlord for some rental properties.

Bockey began doing repairs and renovations on the rental properties himself and realized he wanted to be his own boss. So he quit his corporate job and is in the process of starting up a contracting business: SURE Contracting LLC.

That’s why Bockey attended The American Legion Department of New Jersey’s Boots to Business workshop May 11-12 at American Legion Post 170 in Rochelle Park, N.J. It was the first such workshop to take place in a Legion department; previous Boots to Business Reboot workshops took place during The American Legion National Convention in Baltimore in 2015 and in Charlotte, N.C., in 2014.

Bockey only had to drive an hour to get to the New Jersey workshop. “If I had to travel halfway across the country and give up a week, I’d not have done it,” he said. “It wouldn’t have been available to me if it hadn’t been local.”

That’s why the Small Business Administration (SBA) teamed up with the Legion to conduct what will be the first of several regional Boots to Business workshops.

“We’re just trying to bring that entrepreneurial education to where the people are,” said Mark Williams, program manager for SBA’s Boots to Business. “One of the challenges is how do we find veterans who are interested in entrepreneurship. It’s difficult for the SBA to do that. But The American Legion is touching those veterans. They’re going to their (posts). Providing it on a local level and going where the people are … is kind of what we’re trying to do.”

The workshop featured SBA experts, as well as representatives from Syracuse University, the SCORE Association – a free business counseling service – and the New York/New Jersey Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC).

“Part of this is the curriculum, but the really important piece of it is the resources,” said Williams, a Marine Corps veteran. “All these people (here) are providing services for free, and it’s probably better than the service you’re going to pay for.”

That’s why Post 170 opened up its doors to host the event. “We’re very active in helping veterans, and this is just one more step,” said Post 170 Commander Bob Salvini, who also serves as the department’s membership chairman and Bergen County commander. “We’ve been very active in Hiring Our Heroes events, trying to get jobs for veterans. This is just the next layer for those that want to start their own business. Anything to help veterans – that’s what we’re here for.”

Bockey said he had a very clear reason for attending the workshop. “I wanted to do some networking and meet some other like-minded entrepreneurs, (and) hopefully work on my business plan and think of any strategies or planning decisions I might be missing out on,” he said.

There were plenty of opportunities for that. In addition to Williams, the more than a dozen attendees heard from Ken Walsleben, a professor of Entrepreneurial Practice in Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management with 25 years of entrepreneurship experience.

“When you take up entrepreneurship, never ask what product you’re going to sell,” Walsleben said. “Ask what value you’re going to deliver. A lot of people start with a cool concept and then search for an opportunity. You have to match a concept with an opportunity. You can’t do one without the other.”

Gene Spillane, an SBA Veterans Small Business Outreach Officer and Army veteran, said veterans go into business for themselves “because we know how to do things right. We have the ability to know how to do the job. We’re hard workers. Everyone says they’re hard workers, but we know what 4 a.m. looks like.”

But entrepreneurship isn’t limited to starting a business. Spillane said taking over an existing business is an option, but there are rules to doing that. He said "to make sure the previous owners have a stake in the new business, perhaps by using a seller loan that the veteran pays back on a monthly basis.”

Spillane also urged fledgling or future business owners to seek advice at their local Legion posts. “You will find successful business people in that post as active members,” he said. “It’s a good place to stop."

Ryan Letts, a business advisor with the VBOC New York City/New Jersey, said his office will help veterans put together a business plan and connect with local, national and international resources.

“Every veteran that comes through the door is a case-by-case basis,” Letts said. “There’s no cookie-cutter approach. We have to sit down and do a thorough assessment and see what your needs are. A lot of times you may think you need something and, for the most part, you are right. We’ll do our assessment and see what your needs are and provide you with those specific resources to help you reach your goal.”

American Legion Department of New Jersey Economic and Education Committee Chairman Bob Looby was happy with how the first regional workshop went and said the feedback session on the final day was both beneficial and critical.

“We will adjust our future workshops,” Looby said. “You must learn from your clients. I’ve always been a believer of supplier-client relationships. If you don’t listen to your clients you’ll go out of business.”

Looby said the department will advertise future similar workshops at colleges and universities because “that’s where the veterans are.” He said it will help raise even more awareness about the Legion’s employment efforts.

Salvini agreed. “It means a little recognition,” he said. “We are (active in the community), but the more you can get your name out, the better chance you have bringing in new members. This is not to generate new members, but it’s to create an awareness that The American Legion is trying to be out there and helpful.”

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