Happy Veterans Day 2025. On this day of remembrance, I would like to take the opportunity to thank our veteran community and all those who have served and sacrificed for the freedoms we hold dearly, but to also give thanks to all those who have been involved with the VETRN program since our founding in 2013, and to remember the reason for VETRN’s founding and our success 12 years later.
Veterans who serve and sacrifice for their country represent less than 1% of the US population. During their service, they develop a network of close friendships and bonds, a family of brothers and sisters who have their backs and who will be there for them. This bond gives them the strength to face adversity and to be there for one another while serving in the military. Since they are all about achieving the mission, they are often more likely to want to build their own future and start their own businesses when they leave the military.
But, leaving the military means giving up that support group, those close bonds, as their buddies are now scattered across the country. If they decide to start their own businesses, they will need to build a new community of support to help them along the way. Many of them have no business background, just a drive to succeed. They will need to learn finance, business tools and skills needed to become successful, to build a network of professionals who can assist them along their business journey, to work with mentors and learn best practices from peers and others whom they trust.
VETRN was started by a small number of military veterans, with a business, finance and small business background, interested in assisting veteran small business owners, service-disabled veterans and family members in obtaining the education and skills necessary to successfully grow their own small businesses. Our mission is to provide veterans with tools, professional resources, mentoring and access to a network of peers and other veteran small business owners so they can share best practices and become successful.
I am so proud that VETRN has succeeded beyond expectations in providing those tools, professional resources, business education, mentorship and peer to peer mentors for veterans to become successful small business owners, many of whom are now growing their businesses to levels they would never have imagined. Congratulations to all the VETRN graduates and to all veteran and service-disabled veteran small business owners who have taken the VETRN program or one of the many veteran education programs being offered by the SBA Office of Veterans Business Development and their Resource Partners to support their business goals. We thank you for your service and wish you much continued success.