New Program Assists Growing Veteran Owned Businesses

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship have created the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans Accelerate Program.

Referred to as EBV Accelerate, this new program is designed to help veteran business owners move from leading start-ups to handling the challenge of growing companies. FSU will be the first school to offer the program, which is scheduled for Oct. 22-26, 2018. EBV Accelerate will be administered in the other nine EBV consortium universities in 2019.

Modeled after the successful startup program, Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV), which offers training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans, EBV Accelerate provides veterans the tools and coaching to propel their business to the next phase: sustainable growth. Topics will include acquiring growth funding, rebranding for expansion, determining a sustainable growth rate, establishing partnerships, managing cash flow and action planning. The EBV Accelerate program represents the evolution of a 10-year partnership between Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) and FSU’s Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship.

“We’ve graduated more than 280 veterans from the original EBV and EBV-Families programs at FSU,” said Randy Blass, executive director of the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship. “Their feedback prompted us to create EBV Accelerate in order to offer more advanced curriculum to veteran business owners throughout the country.”

EBV Accelerate consists of three phases, beginning with two weeks of online instruction and business analysis, followed by a three-day residency at FSU where participants will create a personalized action plan for their businesses. After participants complete the residency portion of the program, they have ongoing marketing and management resources to support the continued growth of their business.

To qualify for the program, small businesses must have 50% or more ownership maintained by a military veteran, and that veteran must have served active duty with honorable discharge or general discharge under honorable conditions. Offered at no cost to its participants, graduates of other IVMF programs are also eligible.  

For questions about the EBV Accelerate program please contact Lindsey Peppers, EBV program coordinator, at lpeppers@jimmoraninstitute.fsu.edu or at 850-644-7896. For additional information, including program history and ways to get involved, you can visit jmi.fsu.edu or ebv.vets.syr.edu.

About the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship
The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship cultivates, trains and inspires entrepreneurial leaders through world-class executive education, applied training, public recognition and leading-edge research. Jim Moran was an automotive pioneer and an entrepreneur at heart, who at the age of 7, sold soda pop at sandlot baseball games in Chicago. With a career that spanned more than six decades, he built an amazing chronicle of achievements in the automobile industry. His vision for the Jim Moran Institute was to provide opportunities that would help others become more successful business owners. A 1995 contribution from Jim and Jan Moran and JM Family Enterprises established the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at the Florida State University College of Business. Since 2011, further enhancements to the Jim Moran Institute and its outreach have been made possible by Jan Moran and The Jim Moran Foundation.

About the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans Accelerate (EBV Accelerate)
The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans Accelerate is a first-of-its-kind initiative that equips veteran business owners with the tools and coaching needed to sustain growth. Delivered by Florida State University and Louisiana State University, in partnership with the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University, EBV Accelerate is among IVMF's Arsenal of programs designed to meet veterans wherever they are on their entrepreneurial journey. The program leverages the skills, resources and infrastructure of higher education to offer cutting-edge, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans and transitioning service members. Assistance from the US..S Small Business Administration (SBA), corporate partners and donors allows participants to attend the program at no cost. For more information, visit ebv.vets.syr.edu.