ABOUT

Our Mission

Our mission is to provide veteran small business owners and family members an opportunity, free of tuition, to attend a program in entrepreneurship that is being put on exclusively for veterans in order to provide them with the skills, resources, mentoring and networking necessary to grow their own small business. This program is a six month VETRN program based on a course in strategic business planning, business cash flow and financial management.

Our Approach

We believe that military training provides many of the skills necessary to be successful in the business world. We also believe that academic credit should be given for those skills, thereby increasing access for veterans and their families to receive college level training to help become successful in running his or her own business.

Each cohort will consist of 12 veteran small business owners. Veteran applicants, who are interested in attending this program, with tuition fully paid, will be asked to fill out an application form, stating your business goals and objectives and the reasons why you wish to attend this program. The written application will be followed by an interview of the veteran applicant or family member.

Veterans and family members who are accepted into the program will be provided with a mentor from day one of the program chosen the business or financial community to work with them both during the program and after successful completion of the program. VETRN believes that ongoing mentorship and networking is critical in helping to grow your small business and become successful.

To the extent the veteran applicant may not qualify for the VETRN Entrepreneurship program, VETRN will provide other services, including training in basic skills such as math and computer literacy and an introduction to other veteran resources, including preparing resumes, job opportunities, mentorship and other pro bono resources provided by organizations supporting the VETRN program and veteran entrepreneurs.

“The VETRN program was a business owners dream come true. It was literally a nuts and bolts MBA program where you get all the meat and no fluff. The program was packed with very practical and useful information that you can implement immediately. Whether you have been in business for one year or three decades, there is much to learn. I give this program 5 stars and can’t say enough good things about the program."
Brian Bigelow, DC Business Owner for 32 years - Nashua NH

Corporate Counsel

Scott Harshbarger

Corporate Counsel

Former Massachusetts Attorney General

 
 

Scott Harshbarger

Corporate Counsel

Former Massachusetts Attorney General

Board and Advisors

Leland Goldberg

VETRN Founder

CEO of fourteen companies

Meet Leland

Erik DeGiorgi

VETRN Director

Erik DeGiorgi, President of MediaVue Systems in Higham, Mass.

Meet Erik

Amy Geogan

VETRN Director

SVP & Senior Credit Officer of South Shore Bank

Meet Amy

Tom Sommerfield

VETRN Director

Senior Credit Officer of Blue Hills Bank

Meet Tom

John Loughnane

VETRN Director

John Loughnane, Attorney at Law at White and Williams Law Firm, located in their Boston office.

Meet John

Kathleen Kelly

VETRN Director

SVP, SBA Relationship Manager at Webster Bank in Boston, MA

Meet Kathleen

Stephen Awtrey

VETRN Director

Senior Managing partner, The Nova Consulting Group

Meet Stephen
 
 

Individual Bios

Founder and President of VETRN, Norton, MA. Lee has served as CEO, Interim CEO or President of fourteen companies. He is a former: Partner at Coopers & Lybrand, Principal of TRG (now Deloitte Consulting), Senior Credit Officer at Bank of Boston and Investment Officer at John Hancock. He has provided management consulting services to over 300 companies. He is also a Founder and Past President of the Northeast Chapter of the Turnaround Management Association. Lee served as an Army Officer during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam.