News
Vets apply military skills to business development in GVSU community program
October 18, 2018
A community program out of Grand Valley State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is helping to open doors for veterans looking to start their own businesses.
“Veteran students did very well with their entrepreneurship ideas as students,” said Julie Cowie, project manager. “Once graduated, they really didn’t have many resources to tap. So we wanted to create a program for the community, for veterans to be able to develop their ideas because we know how entrepreneurial they are. Because they are mission-driven, they are focused, they know how to persevere.”
The free, nine-week program – Michigan Veteran Entrepreneur-Lab – is offered to “military-connected people.” This calls for veterans, reservists and their spouses in the West Michigan community. Some of the veterans in the program are GVSU alumni, and many are not. A group of people started in the pilot program this August, with a two-day boot camp. Now, there are about 21 people in the middle of their nine-week curriculum, meeting each Monday night to discuss their plans and go over ways to develop their businesses, from all things financial to marketing and more. There is even a different speaker each week to talk about their experiences as an entrepreneur and any advice they may have for the group.
“There are training webinars and other resources available around entrepreneurship for veterans, but nothing is local and cohort-based,” Cowie said.
Cohort-based means the students all learn together as a group.
“We believe it’s very encouraging for people to start up together and to learn from each other as they’re developing their own idea,” Cowie said. “The curriculum … focuses on starting small, proving your concept, start within your means, that sort of thing.”
Michael Hyacinthe, a Navy veteran and local entrepreneur himself, is a co-facilitator in the program and helps lead discussions in developing your business and all the factors that come into play around that.
“Any organization that has a heart for veterans is an organization I can participate in,” Hyacinthe said, who has two start-ups of his own.
Hyacinthe leads a discussion during the the MVE-Lab class Monday night, October 1.
Cowie said this program is definitely filling a gap of need in the veteran community and also empowering people with an already existing unique set of entrepreneurial skills.
“If you look at the unemployment rate in Kent County, the unemployment rate of veterans is much higher than the unemployment rate generally,” Cowie said. “We also know that many veterans prefer self-employment.”
Additionally, Cowie has learned more specifically about the issues veterans face as they transition back into civilian life after serving.
“Sometimes there is a disconnect between the intensity of the experiences they’ve had in the military and then what is asked of them on the job,” Cowie said. “Veterans sometimes hit a snag in finding work that really suits them. So, if they are interested in pursuing entrepreneurship, they can take some of the key experiences from military life – the discipline, the hard work, the sacrifice for a goal – and put that into their own startup that’s going to benefit them and their family and their community and the economy.”
Read more about Michigan Veteran Entrepreneur-Lab here