During the 1990s, Michael D. Lathon saw action in Operation Desert Storm, where his leadership earned him a combat promotion to a U.S. Marine sergeant and a Joint Service Commendation Medal. Lathon served post-9/11 in Operation Enduring Freedom/Iraqi Freedom II as a U.S. Marine Corps infantry unit leader. His 22-year military career also put him in counter drug operations and Army Special Forces at the Jungle Operations Training Center in Panama.
The 45-year-old retired gunnery sergeant became a civilian in 2007. Major injuries received in Iraq’s Al-Anbar province made it difficult for him to assume regular civilian work. He has had multiple surgeries–four knee, two spine, and one for his upper-back, and his jaw has been reconstructed twice. “Many employers frown on hiring or keeping anyone under these conditions,†he says.
Lathon opted to pursue a different path–entrepreneurship. Today, he is the president and owner of AACON General Contractors L.L.C., a 10-employee Louisville, Kentucky, company that provides construction services to the federal government and municipalities. Equipped with $500,000 in financing from bank loans, Lathon started AACON in November 2005. In 2011 the company’s contracts topped $850,000, and so far have reached $8.5 million in 2012.
Like Lathon, many of the nation’s service members are returning home and having a difficult time finding their way through a difficult job market. The jobless rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is 9.7%. The rate of unemployment is even higher for wounded warriors. At the same time, the Small Business Administration reports that veterans are more likely to start a business than the general population. Reasons for this include the discipline and risk-taking experienced in the field. When you’ve risked your life, taking a risk to start a business is put into perspective. There is also increasing support for programs aimed at disabled service veteran-owned enterprises.
Business Training Camps
Lathon attributes his business success to his participation in the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities at Florida State University in Tallahassee. The nine-day EBV crash course is designed to help participants get their businesses off the ground or enhance ventures they have already started. “I can directly credit EBV with helping me take a more complete view of the business that has contributed to overall growth,†Lathon says. He learned how to look at profit and loss statements, weigh key legal issues, and pursue contracting opportunities.
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Entrepreneurship boot camps for qualified disabled veterans are supported by at least eight business schools around the United States and are helping disabled veterans make their dreams of entrepreneurship a reality. This consortium of universities comprises the University of California, Los Angeles; Syracuse University; Texas A&M University; Florida State University; Purdue University; University of Connecticut; Cornell University; and Louisiana State University. Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management in New York was the first to offer the program for veterans disabled as a result of their military service since Sept. 11, 2001. Syracuse and FSU offer the only entrepreneurship programs for veterans’ families and spouses of the fallen.
In addition to boot camp instruction, mentoring from former Marine officers who are now entrepreneurs has also been instrumental in leading Lathon in the right direction. Marylyn Harris, vice chairman of
the SBA Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs, advocates having several mentors. “Each one should give you another source of strength and enlightenment, and they don’t all have to be in your geographical space,†says Harris, who works closely with Syracuse’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families and was a facilitator of the inaugural Kauffman FastTrac NewVenture (www.fasttrac.org) course for Houston veterans. She adds that the mentor channels the aspiring businessperson’s desire by the example he or she sets. “That person has a network that is working for them. You want to be a player within that network, moving and shaking like this mentor, making deals, making money, and impacting society.â€
Harris served 11 years in the U.S. Army and deployed to Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War in support of Operation Desert Storm. Trained as a psychiatric nurse practitioner, she owns Harrland Healthcare Consulting L.L.C., a Houston-based VA-verified business whose clients include VA hospitals, the Army, and the Air Force. She completed the EBV program at FSU, as well as the Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship conference and the National Center for Veterans in Procurement program, an educational training program designed to help service-disabled and veteran-owned businesses win federal contracts.
Educational boot camps are not the only training ground. Other resources for disabled veterans include the VetFran program (www.vetfran.com), established in 1991 by the International Franchise Association. The organization has partnered with the SBA and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Under VetFran, more than 530 franchises offer veterans incentives to invest.
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Take carryout pizza franchise Little Caesars,
which provides for all qualified, honorably discharged veterans a $5,000 reduction of the franchising fee, financing benefits, and a $5,000 credit on initial equipment orders. Service-disabled veterans are eligible for a waiver of the $20,000 franchising fee, additional financing options, a $10,000 credit on the initial equipment order, grand opening marketing support, and other benefits that could total up to $68,000. The coed fitness club franchise Anytime Fitness offers a number of discounts, including 20% off of standard franchise fees. [For more, see “Great Franchise Opportunities for African Americans†and the “25 Best Bets for African Americans†list, November 2012.] The convenience retailer 7-Eleven launched a military veterans franchise program that offers discounted franchise fees to retired or separated veterans–vets who served on active duty during the three-year period beginning on the date of their discharge or release from active duty–who have been honorably discharged. Qualified veterans who become first-time 7-Eleven franchisees receive a 10% discount on the initial franchise fee for their first store, which can range from $1,000 to $35,000.Steps on the Way to Business
Prior to the turn of the century, veterans service organizations, such as the American Legion, Vietnam Vets of America, and Disabled American Veterans, traditionally provided support for veterans seeking healthcare, counseling, housing, and transition assistance. “Nobody was doing much for veterans interested in doing business,†says Joe Wynn, president of the National Association for Black Veteran Inc’s. Washington, D.C., chapter.
In 1999, Public Law 106-50 went into effect, creating the single-venture entrepreneurship program. It mandated all federal agencies set goals to do at least 3% of all purchasing from
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The legislation only gave a preference to service disabled veteran business owners. Wynn’s vets group teaches them how to do business with the federal government. “We try to get more veterans into the federal marketplace,†says Wynn. He estimates the group has interacted with 4,000 veteran business owners, 15% of them African American. Its monthly veteran small business forum in Washington, D.C., attracts participants from across the country. A different federal agency hosts each month’s meeting, presenting information on how to do business with the specific agency. According to Wynn, information technology, professional services, administrative services, construction, and facilities maintenance are industries most represented among post-9/11 veteran entrepreneurs.
Wynn notes that veterans don’t always have income available when they first set up their businesses. It may take a couple of years before they really earn income. Young non-career veterans may lay a foundation for entrepreneurship by getting a job to support themselves and multitask with higher education, vocational training, or entrepreneurship programs, he adds.
Michael Chodos, associate administrator of the SBA Office of Entrepreneurial Development, advises aspiring vetpreneurs to “collect the resources you need, the partners you need, find out about your customers, and do what you need to do to go forward over a year or two. What we care about most is that veterans are successful as they go forward.â€