Cohort II of the Veterans Entrepreneurial Jumpstart (VEJ) program is now tentatively scheduled for October 28 to November 5, 2016. It will be held on the Saint Joseph’s University campus in Philadelphia, PA.
This program is offered at No Charge to eligible veterans. Key eligibility requirements include:
– An Honorable Discharge (or currently serving members of the National Guard or Reserves)
– Desire to start your own business/franchise
An overview of VEJ can be found at https://sites.sju.edu/veteransservices/entrepreneurship-programs/sju-veterans-entrepreneurial-jumpstart-vej/
Office of Veterans Services
Located on the edge of metropolitan Philadelphia, Saint Joseph’s University (SJU) provides a rigorous, liberal arts education that prepares students for personal excellence, professional success, and engaged citizenship. An integral part of a Saint Joseph’s education is encouraging students to live greater as they pursue professional excellence. SJU recognizes that Veterans have already answered the call to live greater by their service to our country.
Saint Joseph’s has a long history of ROTC involvement on campus and vibrant alumni network of Veterans, but lacked a dedicated office for Veterans. Opened in fall of 2014, the Office of Veterans Services is committed to honoring those who have served our country by providing opportunities for education and career advancement.
The greater Philadelphia region and Tri-State area is home to over 500,000 Veterans who face many unique challenges when they leave military service and return to their civilian lives. These challenges include readjustment and transition to civilian and family life, dealing with physical and mental disabilities acquired during service, and the loss of brotherhood and sense of comradery from fellow soldiers.
The Office of Veterans Services seeks to create a welcoming atmosphere on SJU’s campus for Veterans and their families and meet the unique needs of SJU students who are Veterans. Resources and services provided by the Office of Veterans Services include:
- Assistance with readjustment and transition for Veterans and spouses
- Connecting Veterans with a network of mentors, counselors, and service providers
- Identifying and securing all available government benefits
- Providing assistance with employment opportunities and career development
- Offering unique entrepreneurship programs for Veterans
The Office of Veterans Services is led by two combat-disabled Veterans who understand the challenges that Veterans face when transitioning from military service to civilian life. Ralph Galati ’70, Director of Veterans Services, and Andrew Colket, Program Administrator for Veterans Services are committed to ensuring that Veterans receive the support required to thrive at SJU and beyond. During its first year, the Office has served more than 200 student-veterans attending SJU. For more information about the Office of Veterans Services, please visit http://www.sju.edu/veterans or call 610-660-3263.
Entrepreneurship Programs
The Erivan K. Haub School of Business (HSB) at SJU receives national recognition for its outstanding business programs, including its program in Family Business and Entrepreneurship, and has a robust alumni network of small business owners and entrepreneurs. A key initiative of the Office of Veterans Services that builds on this strong foundation is the Veterans Entrepreneurial Jumpstart (VEJ). This program, with our initial Cohort graduating in May 2015, is an intensive educational training offering provided at no charge to eligible Veterans. You must have an Honorable Discharge, and a strong desire to start your own business.
Throughout our country’s history, small business ownership and entrepreneurship have offered our citizens empowering opportunities to participate in the engine of local, state, and national economies. These same opportunities can serve as a catalyst of success for our nation’s Veterans by providing vehicles for employment, professional development, and financial stability.
The VEJ program provides Veterans with the opportunity to translate their skillset and military experience into a successful small business venture through a unique educational model that includes online courses, an intensive in-person residency period held on SJU’s campus in the HSB, and ongoing mentorship. The VEJ program also leverages the expertise of HSB faculty members who serve as guest speakers and lecturers during the in-person residency period held at SJU. We also use “practitioners”, successful entrepreneurs who devote their time and talent to sharing their experiences with the class.
The number of Veterans serving our country since 9/11 is about 2.4 million. Most significantly, unemployment rates for post-9/11 Veterans remain higher than the general population. Data from the Veterans Affairs and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (USBLS) updated in August of 2015 illustrates how Veterans experience a greater jobless rate than the non-veteran population:
- Overall U.S. unemployment rate – 5.1%
- Veterans ages 18-24 unemployment rate – 9.2%
- Veterans ages 25-34 unemployment rate – 6.6%
The key point here is that, overall, Veterans tend to experience a greater jobless rate than the non-veteran population. Many young Veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are locked out of high-quality, middle-class jobs in the economy even though they possess significant leadership experience, an outstanding work ethic, and other valuable skills.
Veterans have a long history of succeeding as entrepreneurs because of their unique skillset. Currently, 15 percent of business owners in the most recent census survey were Veterans, making Veterans twice as likely to be a business owner as the ordinary American. Veterans have illustrated that they possess the drive, skills and leadership required to be successful business owners through their service. Successful entrepreneurs share the characteristics of being hard-working, dedicated, disciplined, multi-skilled, and self-sufficient.
The VEJ program will offer Veterans the opportunity to develop a path to financial stability, professional development, and sustained employment. The VEJ program is open to all Veterans, regardless of disability status or era of service.
The challenge for Veterans lies in their ability to find and enroll in business training that is specifically developed for Veterans and that focuses on concepts and skills that translate into successful small business ownership. Our VEJ program helps Veterans realize their goals by providing education and mentorship services free of charge that are too often unaffordable for those who have served our country.
Program Curriculum
The VEJ program is a three phase training program, which offers experiential training in entrepreneurship and small-business management. The curriculum leverages the expertise of HSB faculty members, especially with those in the Family Business and Entrepreneurship Program. The curriculum has the following structure:
- Phase 1: A training program designed to give Veterans basic entrepreneurship skills and build their business acumen. This phase is offered as an online, self-study course and provides the foundations of business planning. During this phase, Veterans are prepared for the mentorship program that will be available to them in Phase II.
- Phase 2: A nine day “boot camp” style residency program is held on SJU’s campus at the HSB to provide more intensive training and education in topics such as business planning, financial acumen, sales and marketing, government contracting, franchising options, basic accounting, IT tools for small business, and much more. During this residency, Veterans interface with experienced business owners, HSB faculty with expertise in entrepreneurship, and receive personal one-on-one coaching and advising from successful small business owners and mentors. Phase two ends with a “shark tank” event where Veterans present their business plan to a panel of distinguished judges and receive direct feedback.
- Phase 3: A 6-month period of business services, support and mentorship that provides Veterans with the ongoing tools necessary to execute business plans into successful business ventures.
Program Evaluation and Outcomes
In April of 2015, SJU held a successful pilot the Veterans Entrepreneurial Jumpstart program (VEJ). Our 19-member cohort successfully completed the first two program phases. This first cohort included Veterans from across the nation attracted by this unique experiential education. States represented included Texas, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Cohort I completed Phase 3 in October 2015, and continues to work to translate their business plan into successful business ventures
Another key initiative of the Office of Veterans Services is the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV). Conducted in partnership with Syracuse University’s national consortium of universities, the EBV program offers post-9/11 disabled Veterans an intensive educational training program at no cost.
The national EBV program has strong long-term outcomes and SJU’s anticipates that its EBV program, held in partnership with Syracuse’s national program, will enjoy similarly strong outcomes. To date, 64% of national EBV graduates have launched a new business. More importantly, of that group, 92% of those businesses remain in operation, 54% generate over $100K in annual revenue, and businesses owned by EBV graduates currently employ 1,121 Americans. SJU will likewise evaluate EBV’s success by the number of jobs created by graduates, the number of graduates who start successful businesses, and the percent of businesses started by graduates that generate over $100K in annual revenue.
