Veterans Corporation

Prevail HS, a company with a radical approach to mental health care which has partnered with TVC, was recently featured on NPR.

A brief synopsis below:

Military members are trained to rely on themselves, to ignore doubts and emotions. In combat, those skills might save a person’s life. But that training can make it hard to readjust to the civilian world, and to seek help when it’s needed. A group of Chicago entrepreneurs is trying a new way to get those veterans into therapy. They’re using something most vets readily understand: technology.

To survive in war, you have to get into a certain mindset. Trouble is, when you come back, it’s hard to get out of it.

The full audio of the interview is available HERE.

Nonprofit offers advice, connections

By R. Stephanie Bruno

New Orleans Times Picayune

A nonprofit called The Veterans Corporation held a seminar in New Orleans this week during which it offered veterans suggestions for raising capital, preparing a business plan and otherwise launching a successful business.

While military service fosters some of the same qualities that make a successful entrepreneur, including discipline and organization, returning veterans do not always know how to translate their skills to the civilian business world.

Trinity Cazzola, a former platoon leader in Iraq who owns Mayas Restaurant & Bar on Magazine Street, said Thursday that The Veterans Corporation helped him make the transition.

“I was deployed for two years and around the end of that time I started preparing for what my next move would be,” Cazzola said. “I’m originally from Michigan but I had visited New Orleans and fell in love with it. I knew this was where I wanted to live when I got out. My friend and I wanted to open a business, but we knew we needed help to get it off the ground.”

Cazzola’s friend Edgar Irias was at the hotel and hospitality management school at the University of New Orleans at the time, and the two decided that a restaurant would be the right venture for them. Cazzola found The Veterans Corporation during some late-night Internet surfing while he was still in Iraq and called its president and chief executive, James Mingey, for guidance.

“The most important help they provided up front was to assist us in refining our business plan so that it would appeal to bankers,” Cazzola said. “We submitted it when I was still in Iraq. They helped us find capital, and by the time I returned to the states in the summer of 2007, we had the financing we needed.”

Charles Achane, president of the Southwest Louisiana Business Development Center, said that retired military personnel are ideally suited to becoming successful business people.

“In the military, you get the training to be disciplined and organized and to function as a team. Those traits stay with you your whole life,” Achane said. “Those are exactly the skills you need to succeed in business.”

The Veterans Corporation helps direct former military personnel to lenders, such as Superior Financial, that offer loans especially for veterans or their spouses. The group also helps veterans refine their business plan and coaches them on how to navigate the maze of paperwork required to bid for government contracts.

A poor business plan can sink even the best candidate, said Bob Bordelon of Capitol One.

“Someone will walk in with a great idea and lots of vision and passion, but they fumble on how to get where they want to go,” Bordelon said. “If you have a good business plan, that makes it easy for a lender to evaluate risk and make you a loan.”

For more information on The Veterans Corporation, visit www.veteranscorp.org.

Invites you to the

2009 Louisiana Veteran Entrepreneur Conference – Rebuilding the Louisiana Economy One Business at a Time

April 16, 2009
National World War II Museum
945 Magazine Street
New Orleans, Louisiana
12:00 PM – 5:15 PM
FREE REGISTRATION HERE

Registration is FREE for all Veterans, Service-disabled Veterans, members of the Guard and Reserve, family members and surviving spouses.

Please join us for a conference full of informational panels conducted by local, state and national small business experts as well as special presentations to include:
• A Louisiana Veteran Entrepreneur’s Story
• ABC’s of Financing Your Veteran Owned Business
• Surety Bonding and Government Contracts Panel
• Networking Opportunities with Other Veteran Business Owners and Panel Presenters
• Presentations and remarks by Federal, State and Local officials on the opportunities available to Veteran Entrepreneurs

Registration required – REGISTER HERE 

Veteran Entrepreneurs Heed President Obama’s Call to Rebuild Louisiana Economy

The Veterans Corporation (TVC) is co-hosting with the Southwest Louisiana Business Development Center Inc. (SWLABDC) a conference “Veteran Entrepreneurship: Rebuilding the Louisiana Economy One Business at a Time” at the National World War II Museum, in New Orleans, on April 16, 2009.

President Obama has called for renewed efforts to rebuild Louisiana after Katrina and Rita. This conference will assist local Veteran Entrepreneurs who wish to create, expand and finance a business as well as addressing the role of Veteran Entrepreneurs in Louisiana’s post-Katrina economy. The conference will feature a “first veteran report” from Trinity Cazzola, a recent Iraq war Veteran and now a Veteran Entrepreneur who owns Maya’s Restaurant in New Orleans.

“The Veterans Corporation is honored that the National World War II Museum, the pride of New Orleans and Veterans everywhere, is hosting our conference,” says TVC President and CEO Jim Mingey. “We are hoping to lend our expertise towards helping New Orleans jump-start its economy with one of our greatest national resources - Veteran Entrepreneurs.”

The conference will include a local panel discussion titled, “The A B C’s of Financing your Veteran Owned Business: Access to Capital” as well as the panel discussion, “So You Want to do Business with the Government – You Need Surety Bonding”. Federal, state and local officials will then conclude the conference with a panel discussion highlighting various challenges and opportunities facing Veteran Entrepreneurs. Veterans, along with members of the National Guard/Reserves, along with surviving spouses participating in the conference will be able to arrange post-conference assistance for their particular entrepreneurial needs and circumstances.

Restaurateur Trinity Cazzola, who will share his personal experience transitioning from Veteran to Veteran Entrepreneur during the conference, has an interesting story to tell. A Michigan native and an Army National Guard Lieutenant, Cazzola was a platoon leader in Iraq until August 2007 and was conducting missions around the clock. Somehow, in spite of all the stress, Trinity managed to establish his own restaurant 7000 miles away in New Orleans, LA. During scarce hours of personal time, he wrote a business plan, did a market analysis and even applied for a liquor license. With the help of TVC’s Access to Capital program, Trinity got the loan he needed to start the restaurant. On November 26, 2007 Mayas Restaurant opened to the public. With everything he accomplished and the obstacles he faced, Trinity Cazzola has a lot to be proud of, but he says “that his proudest feat will be helping New Orleans turn around.”

“Trinity Cazzola represents the kind of fighting spirit and entrepreneurship that it will take to not only rebuild New Orleans, but all of Louisiana devastated by dual hurricanes in 2005,” said Charles Achane, SWLABDC President. “Partnerships like those between TVC and SWLASBDC are part of the national/state and local mix, public and private that is sorely needed to rebuild our state.”

Registration is free, and on line at www.veteranscorp.org, or call 202-420-7892. Space is limited so register early.

Sterling, VA……….Bernie Dunn, President and CEO of BJD Tel-Comm, a defense contracting business in Ashburn, has been selected as the Virginia SBDC 2008 Small Business Veteran of the Year. The award was established by the Virginia Small Business Development Center Network (VSBDC) in 2000 to recognize and salute veteran entrepreneurs who give their time and dedication not only to their business but to their community and country. Each SBDC in Virginia selects a local nominee for the state competition. Jody Keenan, VSBDC Director, presented the state award plaque at the Loudoun SBDC’s March 10 “Building Business Together” event at The George Washington University, Virginia Campus in Ashburn. In addition, the name of the state winner is inscribed on an urn permanently displayed at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia. 

As Robin Suomi, Executive Director of the Loudoun SBDC, explained at the March 10 gathering, Bernie Dunn was exposed to Agent Orange during his tour as a Marine in Vietnam. It left him totally blind for a period of 135 days. His doctors had told him he would never see again, but through faith, determination and 22 surgeries, Bernie regained 20/20 vision in his right eye. He remains convinced that his faith was the key to his miraculous recovery. 

Among many subsequent accomplishments, Bernie has successfully helped 25 disabled vets to receive benefits to which they are entitled. When the Loudoun SBDC asked him to speak at its annual “Selling to the Government” seminar, Bernie asked only, “Where and what time should I be there?” At least six attendees subsequently contacted him for further guidance, and Bernie gladly assisted all of them. He now serves as a Loudoun SBDC volunteer counselor, meeting one-on-one regarding government contracting. Ms.Suomi expressed thanks on behalf of the Loudoun Center and the Virginia SBDC network for Mr. Dunn’s sense of duty to fellow veterans and Loudoun entrepreneurs.