Though Veterans’ Day has come and gone, the struggles of readjustment continue to plague many modern veterans. According to recent studies, nearly 246,000 veterans who have served since 9/11 are still battling unemployment. As of October, the unemployment rate for those veterans was 10% – significantly higher than the jobless rate for all veterans and the national population as a whole.
There are several factors that may contribute to the high rate including war related disabilities, a lack of civilian work experience, or a lack of understanding how military duties and responsibilities equate to civilian job requirements. Rather than focus on the problems, though, The Lawyers of Brown and Roberto are focusing on solutions.
“We are excited to partner with the Tennessee Veterans Business Association to sponsor the 2014 Business Plan Competition,” says Andrew Roberto, a partner with the firm. “The individual or company submitting the best business plan will be awarded a $5,000 grant from The Lawyers of Brown and Roberto.”
Any veteran owned business that has been in operation for less than 3 years is invited to submit a business plan. Applicants may be existing companies looking to grow their business, fund a new project or hire new employees, while others may be completely new startups. Applicants may register now at Tennessee Veterans Business Association. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2014.
Tech 20/20, an organization that provides resources to entrepreneurs, will provide training to the applicants to help them refine and pitch their business plan and develop an executive summary. A committee will choose the top three applicants; those finalists will be announced on January 16, 2014. Successful Veteran business owners will then be assigned to mentor the three companies. Final presentations of the business plans will be made at the TVBA Business and Education Expo, January 28, 2014, at the Knoxville Convention Center.
Last year’s winner, Venture Incite, Inc., is working with Y12 to develop a new ceramic body armor for the United States military. With the grant from Brown and Roberto, the Veteran owners were able to perform additional tests on their proposed product.
“We greatly appreciate our veterans and everything they have done for our nation,” says Roberto. “We are honored to have this opportunity to help some veterans succeed in business and, hopefully, put even more veterans back to work.”
For more information visit Tennessee Veterans Business Association or give us a call at (865) 691-2777 or contact us through our website Brown & Roberto, PLLC to set up a free consultation.