Disabled Vets of the War On Terror Get A Break At A&M

You're a veteran of the War on Terror who served on active
duty some time since 9/11.

You came home with a service-connected disability, anything
from a burst eardrum to loss of limb to an improvised
explosive device.

You want to start a business.

Someone is looking for you.

They're not interested in whether you have money, or not.

The Entrepreneurial Boot Camp For Veterans at Texas A&M
wants you to fly to College Station at their expense, stay
in lodgings they have arranged for you and pick up the tab
for all meals, tuition and books.

During an intensive 9-day program of training, you will
learn the realities of how to finance, staff and launch the
start-up business of your dreams. You need to know how to
plan for government regulation, taxes, which functions to
outsource and estimate costs for accounting of the true
facts of life in that new start-up business.

Some of the course modules include:

* What's a good business concept and how can I determine if
my idea is a good one?

* Do I really need a business plan and, if so, how can I
write a great one?

* What do I need to know about my customer and market, and
how can I get answers?

* How much money do I need and how do I get it?

* How do I make sense of the numbers, and which numbers
really matter?

* What's a business model, and does mine make sense?

* What is guerrilla marketing? Are there ways to do more
with marketing while spending much less?

* Which activities should I outsource and what do I need to
know about hiring employees?

* Where do I go to get the information I need to organize
my new venture?

There is an on-line training module that begins prior to the
actual in-person session at EBV University. After
graduation, there is a one-year mentoring program in which
academics and corporate executives monitor the progress of
each graduate.

Who is going to pay for it?

Part of a nation-wide program at Whitman School of
Management at Syracuse University, the College of Business
at Florida State, the UCLA School of Management, Mays
Business School at Texas A&M, the Krannert School of
Management at Purdue University and the University of
Connecticut School of Business, the program costs about
$5,000 per student and is completely financed by donations
from alumni associations, corporations such as Ford Motor
Company, Lynntech, Inc., Research Valley Partnership, The
Aggie 100 and The Texas Business Journals.

So far, about 100 veterans have completed the boot camp
sessions in cycles of 20 per class, according to a program
sponsor, retired oil executive Bill Flores, president of the
Aggie Alumni Association and candidate for Congressional
District 17.

Dr. Richard Lester, a Ph.D. in the discipline of strategic
management, teaches the program. He has urged applicants to
go the program's website, which may be accessed through
http://wehner.tamu.edu/ebv/

Veterans may apply on-line through Syracuse University and
successful candidates from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and
New Mexico are funneled to Texas A&M.

Because the application process is done on a rolling basis,
there is no deadline.

"This is the first time I know of this has been done since
right after World War Two," said Dr. Lester.

Man up.

Hoo-Ah!

And, ah, you know, welcome home. We're all sincerely glad
you're back where you belong.