The U.S. Small Business Administration is rebooting—and expanding—its “Boots to Business” entrepreneurship program for military veterans.
Originally, the free program was designed for troops recently returned to civilian life, but the curriculum is being extended to any honorably discharged veteran or spouse who is interested in starting a small business.
“We had so many calls from veterans wanting to be a part of ‘Boots to Business’ that the SBA came up with this ‘Reboot,’ ” said Daniel Webster, acting district director of the SBA’s Kansas City office. “So now all veterans will be allowed to participate, even if they’ve been out of the military for 20 or 30 years.”
Boots to Business Comes to KC
Kansas City will be one of 12 cities to offer “Boots to Business – Reboot” this summer. The local program will be held Aug. 8 and 9 at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce offices at Union Station, 30 W. Pershing Road.
The two-day “Reboot” curriculum was developed by the University of Syracuse specifically for former service members, who will hear about SBA resources that can help them find startup funds, technical support and other ways to reach their entrepreneurial goals.
“It’s going to be a smorgasbord of local resource partners,” Webster said, including representatives from the SBA’s Veterans Business Outreach Center, the Women’s Business Center, SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) and the Small Business Development and Technology Center.
Spouses of veterans are urged to take full advantage of the program, which will also feature guest speakers, small business owners and area lenders.
“It would be difficult to go into business without the support of your spouse,” Webster said. “So we treat that spouse just like the service member. In fact, at some of the ‘Boots to Business’ programs that we’ve held around the district, we’ve actually had spouses that attended in lieu of the service members.”
For more information and to register for “Boots to Business –Reboot,” visit www.boots2businessreboot.org.
