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The
military is a rather remarkable, if unknown, incubator
of entrepreneurship. Veterans have founded thousands
of companies that have helped to build the very foundations
of our nation. Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx, served
in the Marine Corps and gained first-hand experience
in large scale logistics.
Irvine
Robbins, the founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream,
set up his first store after serving as a Sergeant
in the Army. Earl Graves, who founded Black Enterprise
magazine and also served as the first black CEO of
Pepsi Cola gained leadership skills in the Army as
a Green Beret.
Want
to know where the first Disney cartoons ever appeared?
In France, during WWI, on a Red Cross ambulance driven
by a young Walt Disney, after his application to join
the Army was rejected because he was only 16.
There
are thousands of other such stories, and America can
boast millions of companies started and run by former
military members.
One
of the reasons why so many successful companies were
founded by former military members may be because
the military offered opportunities to gain leadership
skills, practice discipline, and become results oriented.
In short, out military is a natural hothouse for the
skills necessary to start a business. The slogan. "overcome,
adapt, improvise" could be the motto of almost
any entrepreneur. And if we are wise, for the good
of our nation, we will encourage out servicemen and
women to build upon these learned skills.
With
a little effort, we could encourage more of our veterans
and service members to form their own companies and
fully embrace the American dream. Many already have
the natural talent, determination to succeed, ability
to sacrifice and drive required. What they need now
is encouragement and a helping hand to get their business
ideas operational. Sure, the government can do, and
is doing, some of this, but these efforts now need
to be better coordinated.
All
the ingredients for successful effort already exist:
SBA provides easy to obtain start-up loans, targeted
solely for veterans. Department of Commerce's MBDA
hosts effective conferences across the nation, SCORE
(the Society for Retired Executives) exists for the
sole purpose of assisting fledgling entrepreneurs
with the know-how to get businesses started. Thanks
to some hard work, GSA has retooled and made it possible
to get a GSA Schedule in 30 days, and now has a Service
Disabled Veterans GWAC aimed squarely at helping veteran
and service disabled veteran entrepreneurs at their
fingertips.
What
is missing is the leadership to get these puzzle-pieces
together, to create a systematized, coordinated approach
that would turn a veteran's dreams into reality. Currently,
extensive comments has been provided to OMB in response
to the proposed changes to the the proposed rule (48
CFR) for the Department of Veterans Affairs. These
recommendations need to be acted upon quickly.
Agencies
should be required to use the VA's VIP database when
first conducting market research and identifying veteran
business capable of meeting agency requirements. The
Mentor-protege program needs to be more rigorous.
Members should not be "excused" from the
requirement to include a subcontracting plan for its
large federal opportunities, just because it cites
membership in the VA Mentor-Protege program. Furthermore,
mentor-protege programs should be required to report
sub-contracting dollars on a quarterly basis.
And,
lastly, in the event of the untimely death of the
service disabled veteran business owner, allow the
surviving spouse a grace period of up to two years
to exit the program. This grace period allows the
spouse the opportunity to protect the business in
a timely manner and to protect the business from immediate
devaluation, to liquidate the business in a timely
manner and to protect the business' employees until
the transition is complete.
On
the other hand, there also needs to be tougher enforcement
of the existing rules. If any business deliberately
misrepresents its ownership for the purpose of registering
as a Vets business, that business should be debarred
for a minimum of 5 years. Service disabled and veteran
business also need to perform 51% of the work or face
tough penalties.
Expanding
veteran entrepreneurship outreach efforts will help
the next generation of returning service members in
a far more significant way than imposing hiring quotas.
Entrepreneurship
is a transformational experience. And, our nation
will all benefit since one of the best ways to improve
our economy is to create more businesses that create
more new jobs.
Let's
help our nation's veterans take the first step.
Lurita
Doan is the former Administrator of the U.S. General Services
Administration. |
