Read the full article by Edward T. DeLisle & Craig Schroeder on the Federal Construction Contracting Blog

Washington, DC – In just three years’ time, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative has supported nearly $500 million in Patriot Express loans to small businesses owned and operated by veterans, reservists and their spouses.

Patriot Express Loans, which can be used to start or expand a small business, increased over the past two years due in part to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which raised loan guarantees to 90 percent, and temporarily eliminated fees for borrowers on all SBA loans. To date more than 6,000 loans have been made.

Patriot Express was launched June 28, 2007, to expand upon the nearly $1 billion in loans SBA guarantees annually for veteran-owned businesses. SBA also offers counseling assistance and procurement support each year to more than 200,000 veterans, service-disabled veterans, reservists and members of the National Guard.

“America’s veterans have the leadership skills and experience to become successful entrepreneurs and small business owners,” SBA Administrator Karen Mills said. “As we celebrate Independence Day, we renew our commitment to more than 26 million veterans and service members across the country, including the thousands returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Patriot Express initiative, in conjunction with other SBA programs, puts more capital and more tools in the hands of veterans as they grow their businesses and create the jobs America needs.”

Patriot Express is a streamlined loan product based on the agency’s highly successful SBA Express Program, but with an enhanced guaranty and interest rate. Patriot Express loans are offered by SBA’s network of participating lenders nationwide and features one of SBA’s fastest turnaround times for loan approvals. Patriot Express loans are available for up to $500,000.

The Patriot Express loan can be used for most business purposes, including start-up, expansion, equipment purchases, working capital, inventory or business-occupied real-estate purchases. Local SBA district offices can provide lists of Patriot Express lenders in their areas. Details on the initiative can be found at www.sba.gov/patriotexpress.

Patriot Express is available to military community members including veterans, service-disabled veterans, active-duty service members participating in the military’s Transition Assistance Program, Reservists and National Guard members, current spouses of any of the above, and the widowed spouse of a service member or veteran who died during service, or of a service-connected disability. The average loan amount is almost $82,000. Nearly 15 percent of those loans have gone to military spouses. After a loan application is approved by a commercial lender, it is submitted to SBA for approval. Most applications are approved by SBA within 24 hours.

Additionally, SBA has entered an agreement with six major universities to expand and deliver entrepreneurship training for service-disabled veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in a program called Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV). For more information go to www.whitman.syr.edu/ebv.

SBA also offers business counseling through veterans’ business development officers in district offices in every state and territory to provide access to SBA’s range of programs and services. SBA recently expanded the Veterans Business Outreach Centers to 16 locations. They can be located at http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/ovbd/OVBD_VBOP.html.

In addition to district offices, SBA’s resource partners SCORE, Counselors to America’s Small Business, an expanded Small Business Development Center program for veterans, and Women’s Business Centers, provide local and online assistance with: writing a business plan, financing options to start or grow your business, managing the business, expanding the business and selling goods and services to the government. The agency, along with other federal agencies, recently entered a joint agreement to help Native American/Alaska Native Veteran-owned businesses with an entrepreneurship education program at The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

For those who are already small business owners and who expect call-up, the SBA and its resource partners can help with preparing their businesses before deployment, managing their businesses, selling goods and services to the government, obtaining other SBA financing and financial assistance, and obtaining loans for economic injury – Military Reserve Economic Injury Disaster Loans (MREIDL). Loans of up to $2 million are available for small businesses sustaining economic injury because an owner or essential employee has been called to active duty as a military reservist.

The SBA and its Office of Veterans Business Development (OVBD) provides comprehensive assistance, outreach and support to veterans. Each year SBA helps more than 200,000 veterans, service-disabled veterans and reservists. To learn more about additional opportunities for veterans available through the SBA, please visit the website at www.sba.gov/vets.

• State University of New Jersey – Newark, New Jersey
• Old Dominion University – Norfolk, Virginia
• University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Fayetteville State University – Fayetteville, North Carolina
• New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services – Santa Fe, New Mexico
• Southwest Louisiana Business Development Center – Jennings, Louisiana
• Chippewa Cree Tribe – Box Elder, Montana
• University of Guam – Mangilao, Guam

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SBA Press Release:

WASHINGTON – Eight new Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs) funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration will join seven existing SBA centers to provide entrepreneurial development services to eligible military veterans and reservists who own or start small businesses. SBA is providing a total of $2.5 million in grants to the centers, continuing funding to the existing centers, and new funding for the new centers.

“Our service men and women have made invaluable contributions and sacrifices for our country and supporting them as they pursue their life’s dreams to start or grow their own business is one of our highest priorities,” SBA Administrator Karen Mills said. “Through these centers, we stand ready with a myriad of support, from entrepreneurial education and training to linking them with opportunities to compete for federal contracts and access much-needed capital – critical tools that will help them take their business to the next level, drive economic growth and create jobs.”

Services provided by the VBOCs include outreach, assessment, long and short- term business training, counseling, directed referring, electronic or on-line assistance and other technical assistance services to veterans, service disabled veterans, and U.S. Military Reserve Component business owners and entrepreneurs.

Veterans Business Outreach Center locations include:

REGION I (Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New
Hampshire)
• Northeast Veterans Business Resource Center – Existing Lawrence, Massachusetts

REGION II (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands) • State University of New York SUNY at Farmingdale – Existing Albany, New York • Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey – New Newark, New Jersey

REGION III (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, District
of Columbia)
• Old Dominion University – New
Norfolk, Virginia
• University of Pennsylvania – New
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

REGION IV (Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina) • University of West Florida, Pensacola – Existing Pensacola, Florida • Fayetteville State University – New Fayetteville, North Carolina

REGION V (Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana) • VetBiz Central – Existing Flint, Michigan

REGION VI (Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma) • University of Texas – Pan American – Existing Edinburg, Texas • New Mexico Department of Veterans’ Services – New Santa Fe, New Mexico • Southwest Louisiana Business Development Center – New Jennings, Louisiana

REGION VII (Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska) • Veterans Advocacy Foundation – Existing Saint Louis, Missouri

REGION VIII (Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado) • Chippewa Cree Tribe – New Box Elder, Montana

REGION IX (California, Arizona, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada) • Vietnam Veterans of California – Existing Sacramento, California • University of Guam – New Mangilao, Guam

In addition to these grants to the Veteran Business Outreach Centers, SBA recently awarded grants to 10 local SBA Small Business Development Centers
(SBDCs) to increase entrepreneurial assistance to veterans. See the SBA press release on those grants at:
(http://www.sba.gov/idc/groups/public/documents/sba_homepage/news_releas
e_10-10.pdf.)

For more information about SBA’s Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs), visit www.sba.gov/VETS . For information about all of the SBA’s programs and services, visit www.sba.gov. Follow SBA news on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/smallbusinessad

The agreement with SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development will support the expansion of the year-long Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV). The expansion of this innovative management training and mentorship program will maximize small business programs for veterans, service-disabled veterans, reserve-component members, and their dependents or survivors.

Additionally, this week SBA launched a new online contracting tutorial on www.sba.gov, as part of its ongoing efforts to expand services to veterans and service-disabled veterans. Veterans and military spouses who own small businesses can utilize this free online course to learn how to identify and take advantage of federal contracting opportunities.

“At this important time, with veterans returning from foreign soil in increasing numbers, we at the SBA are working to ensure they have the resources to successfully start and run their small businesses. As a result of the leadership skills they develop during their service, veterans over-index in entrepreneurial activities,” SBA Administrator Karen G. Mills said today. “Our commitment is to honor that service by helping our nation’s veterans – especially those who return home with disabilities – fulfill the American Dream. Initiatives like the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp and our online training courses give veteran business owners the tools they need to grow, be competitive, and create
jobs.”

Working with Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management, the University of Connecticut School of Business, Mays Business School at Texas A&M, UCLA Anderson School of Management, Florida State University’s College of Business, and the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University, SBA’s grant and other assistance will significantly expand the reach and impact of the EBV initiative and help maximize economic opportunities for U.S. veterans with disabilities.

The expansion of SBA’s entrepreneurship training initiatives builds on SBA’s support for veterans through its Patriot Express loan program. In less than two-and-a -half year’s time, this pilot loan initiative has supported nearly $400 million in loans to more than 4,700 veterans and spouses looking to establish or expand their small businesses. As a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which raised loan guarantees to 90 percent and temporarily eliminated fees, the number of Patriot Express loans increased by more than 20 percent this year over 2008. Local SBA district offices have a listing of Patriot Express lenders in their areas. Details on the initiative can be found at
www.sba.gov/patriotexpress.

To learn more about additional opportunities for veterans available through the SBA, please visit: http://www.www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/ovbd/index.html