Aspiring veteran entrepreneurs to receive small business training at Texas A&M University, UCLA, Syracuse University in July

More than 80 veterans with disabilities will converge on the Texas A&M, UCLA, and Syracuse University campuses in July to leverage the valued skills gained from military service and learn the basics of business ownership during the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV).

The Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (IVMF) and nine other EBV consortium schools across the country deliver the EBV Program to post-9/11 veterans with service-connected disabilities, who desire to develop the skills and tools needed to launch and maintain successful businesses. Assistance from the U.S. Small Business Administration, corporate partners and donors allows participants to attend the EBV program cost-free.

Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, and Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management will both run their respective EBV programs July 16 through July 23. UCLA’s Anderson School of Management is holding its EBV program from July 9 – 17, 2016.

EBV is a three-phase program, beginning with a three-week online instructor-led course where participants shape business plans and learn business language. During the second phase, participants will complete an intensive eight-day residency at each university, learning the ‘nuts and bolts’ of business ownership from established entrepreneurs and educators. Following the residency, EBV graduates will receive access to a year-long support and mentorship program through EBV Technical Assistance – managed by the IVMF.

The Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship (CNVE) at Texas A&M’s Mays Business School has proudly hosted more than 190 veterans in the program since its launch. In a format somewhat similar to the bootcamp they know, EBV @ Texas A&M is an intense and rigorous program that forces its participants to carefully scrutinize their business concepts and complete a series of training modules designed by Texas A&M faculty to help them plan for a successful and profitable venture.

CNVE also engages a wide variety of successful entrepreneurs from throughout the community and state to mentor each student throughout the program. Through its fundraising and volunteer coordination efforts, CNVE proudly conducts its annual EBV program at no cost to its veteran participants, offering them a unique and valuable educational experience and providing their businesses a competitive advantage that many would pay substantially to receive. All EBV program expenses, textbooks, access to resources, and transportation/lodging/meal expenses are covered entirely by individual, corporate, and University sponsors.



The participants in EBV @ Texas A&M strive to follow in the successful footsteps of their preceding graduates, like Lt. Col (ret.) Boris Robinson (Round Rock, TX), owner of T3 MultiSports. Robinson proudly leverages his EBV training, along with leadership skills he gleaned from 26 years of military service, to provide personal development and coaching services that promote fitness, healthy lifestyles and camaraderie through triathlon training for young athletes.

Shortly after graduating from EBV in 2014, T3 MultiSports was recognized with the Entrepreneurial Veteran award at the Texas Governor’s Small Business Forum. Another notable success story belongs to Abraham Negron (Spring, TX), whose company, Fidelis Solutions, aims to transform the Career Placement Services model to place more veterans and military spouses into the workplace. In less than one year since graduation in 2015, Fidelis has secured job placement partnerships with more than 17 major employers throughout the Houston area.“EBV has produced more than 1,313 graduates since 2007, of whom 68% have launched a new venture after completing the EBV program,” said Tina Kapral, Senior Director of Education and Training at IVMF. “The IVMF at Syracuse University is excited to work with UCLA and Texas A&M again to support our nation’s veterans and help them create and maintain their own small businesses.”




Celebrating its 10-year anniversary this July, the EBV program was launched at Syracuse’s Whitman School of Management in 2007. Since the original class, the IVMF has expanded the EBV Program to ten universities throughout the U.S. In addition to Syracuse University, UCLA, and Texas A&M University, the EBV Program is also offered at the following universities:

• College of Business at Florida State University
• Krannert School of Management at Purdue University
• School of Business at the University of Connecticut (UCONN)
• J. Ourso College of Business at Louisiana State University (LSU)
• School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University
• Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University
• Trulaske College of Business at the University of Missouri

For more information, please visit https://mays.tamu.edu/center-for-new-ventures-and-entrepreneurship/about-ebv-at-texas-am/.