EBV expands to include Coast Guard veterans

Amy Schmitz
(315) 443-3834

The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) has expanded its services to include veterans of the U.S. Coast Guard who have been identified as having a service-connected disability as a result of their support of Operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom. The EBV, created by the Whitman School of Management in 2007, is a program designed to offer world-class training in small business and entrepreneurship to post-9/11 military veterans with disabilities.

“The Coast Guard is an integral component of U.S. military operations in Iraq and other locations around the world,” says Mike Haynie, director and creator of the EBV and assistant professor of entrepreneurship in the Whitman School. “It is an all too common misconception that Coast Guard operations are confined to the U.S. In fact, Coast Guard personnel often stand side-by-side with other U.S. military members in combat and supporting combat operations around the world. At the height of the current conflict, the Coast Guard deployed 1,200 men and women to the combat theater to conduct coastal-security patrols. Being able to offer small business training to members of the Coast Guard who have been disabled as a result of their service is an important way to create a path toward economic independence and vitality for these veterans and their families.”

Six nationally recognized business schools in the United States offer the EBV on an annual basis, including the Whitman School, the UCLA Anderson School of Management, the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, Florida State University’s College of Business, The Krannert School of Management at Purdue University and the University of Connecticut School of Business. The six schools form the EBV Consortium of Schools. Each university offers cutting-edge training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities, with the ultimate goal of small business creation and growth by the veteran. Through the EBV program, the veterans learn a range of business skills, including accounting, human resources, supply chain, operations, strategy and more from world-class faculty, entrepreneurs, disability experts and business professionals. The program is entirely free, including travel and accommodations.

The EBV program is offered in three phases: a self-study session in which the veterans complete courses through online discussions moderated by university faculty; an on-campus immersion where the veterans learn to develop their own business concepts; and 12 months of ongoing support and mentorship provided to the veterans from the faculty experts at the EBV universities. Throughout the EBV experience, students engage in experimental workshops to write business plans, raise capital, attract customers and develop a marketing strategy that is most effective for their business model.

For more information, visit www.whitman.syr.edu/ebv.