By Debbie Gregory.

The Veterans Entrepreneurship Act of 2015 was passed by the Senate on July 23, 2015. The amendment is added to the Small Business Act. It prohibits the Small Business Administration (SBA) from collecting a guarantee fee in connection with a loan made under the SBA Express Program to a veteran or the spouse of a veteran on or after October 1, 2015. There is a provision to exempt the act during any upcoming fiscal year for which the President’s budget, submitted to Congress, includes a cost for the program that is above zero.

The amendment also requires the SBA to assess for Congress the level of outreach to and consultation with female veterans regarding access to capital by women’s business centers and Veterans Business Outreach Centers.

Additionally, starting October 1, 2015, the act prohibits the SBA from guaranteeing a loan if:

the lender determines that the borrower is unable to obtain credit elsewhere solely because the lender’s liquidity depends upon the guaranteed portion of the loan being sold on the secondary market, or

the sole purpose for requesting the guarantee is to allow the lender to exceed its legal lending limit.

The Veteran and Military Business Owners Association (VAMBOA) is a non-profit business trade association that promotes and assists Veteran Business Owners, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses (SDVOB) and Military Business Owners. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and responsible for job generation. That is why VAMBOA provides its members with Business Coaching, Contracting Opportunities, a Blog that provides information, Networking contacts and other resources. Membership is FREE to Veterans. Join Now!

VAMBOA: Loan Advantage for Veterans Passes: By Debbie Gregory

By Debbie Gregory.

It seems that you can’t watch an hour-long news program without the mention of at least one of many hardships Veterans are facing. Along with VA scandals, there are struggles with PTSD, unemployment, homelessness, and underemployment. These societal ills have scourged all generations of Veterans, and are taking an extreme toll on the Post-9/11 generation. But from pain and discomfort, the strong usually seek ways to improve their situation. It is for these reasons that Veterans are 45% more likely to seek self-employment through entrepreneurial ventures that their non-Veteran peers.

But Veterans aren’t just shucking off their uniforms and conforming to life in business suits. They are taking their military experience with them into entrepreneurship, and getting positive results. Many in the business world are now looking to Veteran business owners as examples of the ideal business owner. Here are a few examples of why:

• Efficiency– It is commonly joked about that the most effective military leaders are the ones who are free to goof around on their computer all day. While we know that this isn’t true, the culture of military leadership is to prioritize tasks and delegate work as needed. Veteran business owners are more likely to heighten efficiency by delegating tasks, freeing them up for more critical tasks.
• Leadership– Everyone in the military answers to somebody else, and at some point in their career, most enlisted personnel have others below them. Taking and giving orders is a skill, just like anything else, and Veterans have had some of the best training around. Those with military leadership experience have the conditioning to make important decisions and assign tasks in a manner that can instill confidence from their employees.
• Team Building– Veterans know that the key to accomplishing any mission is to have all members of their team working together, as one unit. It doesn’t matter if that mission is securing a building, cleaning the workspace, or meeting a sales quota, the principles are all the same, and Veterans have been conditioned with the mentality to apply that principle to any task.
• Selling Commitment– Most living things instinctivelydo whatever they can to preserve their lives. Service members rush towards danger. That’s not by accident, that’s by mental conditioning and by being sold on a commitment to your comrades, to your unit, and to your country. There are no better cheerleaders and brand sellers than military personnel and Veterans.
• Gathering Intel– This is an attribute that is often overlooked. But because of the thought process involved with immersing one’s self into battle, Veterans have been conditioned to study the field, know the rules of engagement, and keep a constant tally on their assets. This type of thinking is second-nature to those who have served, and comes in handy when developing and carrying out a business plan.

Veteran business owners apply these same skills to their businesses. There are numerous other skills and attributes that Veterans picked up through their military experience that contribute to their success as business owners. With the right resources and the right mindset, Veterans know that they can accomplish anything.

The Veteran and Military Business Owners Association (VAMBOA) is a non-profit business trade association that promotes and assists Veteran Business Owners, Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses (SDVOB) and Military Business Owners. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and responsible for job generation. That is why VAMBOA provides its members with Business Coaching, Contracting Opportunities, a Blog that provides information, Networking contacts and other resources. Membership is FREE to Veterans. Join Now!

VAMBOA: Five Examples Why Veteran Are Successful Business Owners: By Debbie Gregory

VAMBOA, a non-profit trade association for Service-disabled business owners, Veteran business owners and Military business owners, works to assist these entrepreneurs start, maintain, and grow their companies.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association (VAMBOA) is announcing that it has surpassed 5,000 memberships of Service-disabled business owners, Veteran business owners and Military business owners, with over 105,000 followers on Twitter.

In the military, personnel are asked to complete an infinite array of tasks, and failure is not an option. Officers, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen are often provided limited resources and miniscule budgets to complete their missions. But through American ingenuity, and a determination that dwells in the hearts of those who serve, they are driven to complete their missions.

Thousands of Veterans have put that same drive into running their own businesses. Veteran owned businesses account for over $1 trillion in receipts per year. Veteran owned businesses are a vital part of our nation’s economy. It is for that reason that federal, state and local governments provide special loans, incentives and allotments to help Veteran owned businesses succeed. There are even further provisions, governed by law, for service-disabled Veterans.

“There are scores of programs and benefits designed to help Service-disabled, Veteran and Military owned businesses succeed,” said VAMBOA’s founder, Debbie Gregory. “At VAMBOA, we have made it our mission to connect these Veterans with the resources they need to start and maintain a successful business.”

Since 2010, VAMBOA has been providing its members with the knowledge of these government provisions that help Service-disabled Veteran business owners, Veteran business owners and military business owners succeed. VAMBOA also assists its members by providing business coaching, links to resources, and networking opportunities that are crucial to the success of their businesses. VAMBOA also connects it members to contacts within large corporations and government agencies who can mentor members, and in some cases, can even directly provide members with government contracts and vending contracts within large corporations.

VAMBOA is a 501(c)6 non-profit organization and does not charge dues for membership. VAMBOA relies on corporate sponsorship. If you would like to find out more about corporate sponsorship, contact VAMBOA’s founder, Debbie Gregory at: info@vamboa.org. VAMBOA has a significant reach and is the Go To Site for Corporations to Connect with Service-disabled and Veteran Business Owners.

CalVet Presents Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Awards

Citrus Heights, CA — California Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Peter J. Gravett recognized two Disabled Veteran Businesses with the John K. Lopez Award for outstanding contributions to California’s Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) community at the 13^th Annual State Agency Recognition Awards.

Secretary Gravett also accepted the Small Business Advocate Innovation Award which was given to the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) for having significantly increased the number of Small Business/DVBE firms with which the Department contracts. By personally contacting firms and encouraging them to apply for or renew state certification, CalVet increased its non-IT services small business contract participation from 12.42% in 2010-2011 to 20.65% in 2011-12.

The awards were part of the State Agency Recognition Awards (SARA) ceremony during which the Department of General Services honored 41 state agencies and 17 state employees for their outstanding work with California small businesses and disabled veterans’ businesses.

Secretary Gravett presented the 2012 John K. Lopez Award for Individual Excellence to Robert Mulz, founder and owner of Video Electronics in San Diego, California—the premier source for hard-to-find, niche and specialty electronics products. Since his founding of the Elite Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Chapter in San Diego in 1994, Mulz has consistently fought for a better business climate for disabled veteran entrepreneurs. As Chairman of the Elite Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business Network, he expanded the Elite’s reach to more than 27 states and the District of Columbia.

Secretary Gravett presented the 2012 John K. Lopez Award for Business Excellence to The Amerit Companies. Through owner and Chief Executive Officer, Gary Herbold, Amerit Consulting and Amerit Fleet Solutions has formed the largest disabled veteran business enterprise company in California, with 2,800 employees doing business in 47 states. Amerit Consulting and Staffing also provides services to some of California’s most important industries, and Amerit Fleet Solutions maintains one of the nation’s largest corporate fleets.

“It was an honor to recognize outstanding achievement by and on behalf of our service-disabled veterans,” said Gravett. “The DVBE program allows disabled veterans to compete more effectively for a share of the State’s contracting dollars. It’s one of the many benefits they have earned through their service and sacrifice to our country.”

The awards are named for John K. Lopez, a Korean War Marine Corps veteran whose efforts are largely responsible for the original DVBE legislation being passed in 1989. Lopez passed away in April of this year at the age of 78.

A complete list of SARA recipients is available at on the DGS web site.

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Are You Ready to Start a Business?

A Creating Good Work Entrepreneur Orientation Event

Entrepreneurs4Change and VAMBOA.org (Veteran and Military Business Owners Association) would like to invite you to a free Entrepreneurs Orientation Event – Are You Ready to Start a Business? If you’ve always thought about starting a business, or if you have a business idea you’ve always wanted to launch, or if you’ve already begun a new business venture that needs help, join us for our free introductory entrepreneurial session.

The event will be held on Tuesday, September 11th, from 2-4:00 PM at Ventura County Community Foundation, United Way Community Room, 1317 Del Norte Road Suite 150 Camarillo, CA.

This 2-hour introductory event is specifically for those entrepreneurs who are:

• Launching a new business effort

• In need of the education and training to start a business

• In need of access to the capital to make it happen.

If you’re starting a business or if you have a business idea you’ve always dreamed about putting into action, join us on September 11th and see if this is the opportunity you’ve been looking for. The actual Creating Good Work Entrepreneurial Workshop, again free to all Vets, will be held the last week in September.

Space is very limited. RSVP, today at info@E4C.net.

The Orientation Meeting is free to all respondents and open to all Veteran entrepreneurs by invitation only.