Strafford News

The Falls Chamber of Commerce issued the following announcement on October 29.

November 1-5, 2021 is National Veterans Small Business Week (NVSBW).  During NVSBW, SBA and its extensive partner network will celebrate the strength and resiliency of the veteran business community by hosting events across the country and sharing information about the resources available to veteran entrepreneurs.

Here are a couple of interesting facts:

• There are over 1.76 million veteran-owned businesses in the United States. Of this total, more than 337,934 were employers, and 1.42 million were non-employers.
• These businesses employ nearly four million people.
• Veteran-owned businesses generate approximately $1 trillion dollars in sales/receipts annually.
• Across Maine there are nearly 12,000 veteran-owned businesses, nearly 2,800 were employers, and 9,200 were non-employers.

It’s not that surprising that there are so many veteran-owned businesses across Maine and the country. Service members, veterans, and military spouses make great entrepreneurs. The resilience, determination, and fortitude they have acquired through their service in the military has prepared them for life as successful small business owners.

Our veterans don't have to enter their mission of entrepreneurship alone.  The SBA is here to help. Through the SBA, the military community has a partner to support them at all stages of small business ownership. No matter where they are in their entrepreneurial journey transition assistance, entrepreneurial training, disaster assistance, access to capital, and government contracting opportunities are right in their local neighborhood.

This year, given the COVID-19 pandemic, the SBA is focused on supporting the strength and resiliency of the veteran small-business community through resources and guidance to help these businesses meet new demands and adapt to this unfamiliar environment. Now more than ever, it’s vital for military and veteran entrepreneurs to be aware of the local resources that are available to assist them during this difficult time. It’s critical for small businesses to make strong local connections to stay afloat and continue to thrive.

The good news is SBA, and its' resource partner network extends across the country. Veteran entrepreneurs can receive business training, counseling, and mentoring at our Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOC), where they can also find out about financing options and receive procurement guidance to help them better compete for government contracts.

The VBOC of New England serves the veteran community in all six New England states. The center is operated by the Center for Women & Enterprise and offers classes, programs, and services to those who want to start, grow or expand their businesses.  You can find out more about the New England VBOC at: https://www.cweonline.org/About-CWE/Veterans-Business-Outreach-Center.

All of SBA's resource partners are available to help veteran owned businesses at any stage.  Find out more about SCORE, the Women's Business Centers and the Small Business Development Centers here: Resource Partners (sba.gov)

Wayside Publishing, owned by Navy veteran Greg Greuel is a great example of a veteran owned business that grew with help from SBA. Greg’s uncle owned a small publishing company in Cape Cod, and Greg and his wife Amy purchased the business, relocating it to Yarmouth. The focus of the business was textbooks for K-12 education, primarily foreign language classes. At first, the business started small, with one employee and about $500,000 in revenue. Under Greg’s leadership, it outgrew the space by 2015, and a new location had to be found in Freeport. With the innovative strategies employed by Greg, the business redeveloped its textbooks based on feedback from teachers, developed online tools for teachers to use, and even made an app. As a result, an additional space was needed to accommodate the resulting growth.

With an SBA backed loan from Bath Savings, Wayside was able to secure a secondary location in Freeport in 2019. This was necessary because by this time, Wayside had over 50 employees, and has plans for even further job growth. New products have been added, with a line of French textbooks coming out recently, and with others on the way. With the growth in products, and inclusion of online tools, Wayside has grown to see over $7.5 million in sales, with expectations that it could double within the next few years.

NVSBW is the perfect opportunity to reinforce the critical role that SBA plays in this mission to celebrate, strengthen, and empower our nation’s veteran entrepreneurs like Wayside Publishing.

In Maine we will host a roundtable discussion on Veteran-Owned business as part of our Lender Awards and Emerging Leaders Graduation webinar on November 5th. If you are interested in joining, you can register online https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sba-maine-lender-awards-and-emerging-leaders-graduation-tickets-195327238027?aff=ebdssbdestsearch.

To our nation’s veterans and military community, thank you for your hard work, dedication, and the sacrifices you make. Thank you for your service.

Original source can be found here.