Today, Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice in President Biden’s Cabinet for America’s more than 34 million small businesses, announced that the SBA will celebrate National Veterans Small Business Week (NVSBW) from Nov. 11 to Nov. 15. The 11th annual weeklong celebration will offer both in-person and virtual events across the nation.
“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the SBA has expanded its entrepreneurial resources for veterans, service members, and military families to strengthen their paths to the American dream of business ownership,” said SBA Administrator Guzman. “With nearly two million veteran-owned businesses in the United States, the SBA’s support helps these establishments innovate, create jobs, and strengthen communities – empowering them to continue to serve our democracy by advancing our economy. Our annual National Veterans Small Business Week is a time for communities across the nation to join us and our partners as we uplift and empower veteran-owned businesses with specialized trainings and celebrations. Betting on our veteran, service member, and military family businesses every day will always yield strong results for America.”
Throughout the week, the SBA, resource partners, and local organizations across the country will highlight various aspects of the entrepreneurial journey for veteran and military spouse small business owners. Topics include military-to-civilian transition assistance, entrepreneurial training, government contracting, disaster assistance, and access to capital resources. Information about National Veterans Small Business Week and nationwide events can be found at sba.gov/nvsbw.
The SBA is focused on strengthening veteran small business communities through a variety of initiatives:
- Expanding the number of Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs) across the nation.
- Offering no-cost or reduced-fee loan programs for veterans and their families.
- Increasing loans to veteran-owned small businesses by 33% since 2020.
- Providing increased disaster recovery support for deployments or natural disasters.
- Simplifying the veteran small business certification process through the VetCert program.
- Funding various veteran-focused grants.
- Offering entrepreneurship training courses for the military community.
NVSBW is hosted by SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development and first began in 2013.
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About SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development
The SBA Office of Veterans Business Development (OVBD) works through SBA’s extensive resource partner network, which includes Small Business Development Centers, the SCORE mentoring program, Women’s Business Centers, and 28 VBOCs located throughout the nation. VBOCs are the leading partner in hosting the “Boots to Business (B2B),” “Boots to Business Reboot,” and “Military Spouse Pathway to Business” programs, which are courses on entrepreneurship offered on military installations and in local communities. Since B2B’s inception in 2013, these programs have collectively trained and graduated more than 211,000 service members, veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, and military spouses. For more information on the resources available for veteran entrepreneurs, visit www.sba.gov/veterans.
About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA equips entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, or expand their businesses or recover from a declared disaster. The SBA delivers services through its extensive network of SBA field offices and via partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.