Veteran Business Resources

If you have a Veteran-Owned Small Business, you may qualify for advantages when bidding on government contracts and access to other resources and support through the Vets First Verification Program. This program is run by the VA Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization​ (OSDBU).

Several requirements must be met before registering a veteran-owned business with the OSDBU. Once registered, the business will be able to benefit from the advantages of this program. 

The Small Business Administration​ supports veterans who wish to enter the world of business ownership. Veterans can complete the Boots to Business series of training to prepare themselves. The first of the three training sessions is given in DoD Transition Assistance Program classes. 

Boots to Business Reboot and Boots to Business Revenue Readiness builds upon the prior training to better prepare veterans for entrepreneurship.

The SBA also supports military spouse entrepreneurs with training, counseling, and other resources. 

The SBA matches veteran entrepreneurs with lenders best suited to finance each prospective business owner’s type of business. 

Benefits of a Small Business Administration Loan include:

• Competitive terms that generally have rates and fees that are comparable to non-guaranteed loans.
• Many loans include continued support to help applicants start and run their businesses.
• Lower down payments, flexible overhead requirements, and no collateral needed for some loans. 

The VBOC Program​ offers resources to veteran service members and military spouses who are interested in starting or growing a small business. 

The Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC) program is designed to provide entrepreneurial development services such as business training, counseling, and resource partner referrals to service members, veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, military spouses, and family members interested in starting or growing a small business. SBA has 28 organizations participating in this cooperative agreement and serving as VBOCs.

This program is open to Veteran, service-disabled veterans, National Guard, and family members small business owners if they are beyond the startup phase and have demonstrated a strong desire and commitment to build and grow their own small business. For more information, see here.​

Tuition is free for all participants. Each program cohort consists of 20 to 25 participants. The program includes peer-to-peer mentoring. An industry or financial mentor is available to assist participants throughout the program. 

This program, which is free to all participants, includes 14 online sessions, held every other week over a 28 week period. This is a more advanced program than the Entrepreneurship program, open to veterans and family members who have been in business for a year or more with minimum annual revenue of $125 thousand or greater. For more information, see here​.

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