Florida veterans find help learning business ropes

Programs give training, advice to start companies

John Burns thinks back to his military training while running his engineering services company, Eagle 6.

Often, he says, obstacles he faces in business pale in comparison to those he faced as a helicopter pilot and then as chief of operations in Baghdad.

“It helps you problem-solve in situations where it’s not life or death,” said Burns, who served in theU.S. Army for 28 years. “You go back to those times and remember howyou got through a particular situation and you adapt.”

But since he needed training in business specifics, Burns found help atVeterans Florida — an entrepreneurship program in which veterans who have already faced business obstacles use their experience to help newcomers. The program began this year after being awarded $1 million in state funding, providing seven bi-weekly meetings followed by ongoing mentorship.

Veterans have had a smaller share of new businesses in recent years. In 2013, the last year for which Small Business Administration data is available, 20.4percent ofveteranowned businesseswere less than 5 years old. Thatwas down from34.2 percent in 2007.

Some have blamed lack of business mentorship during their military service for the decline. That’s where Veterans Florida and other programs aim to help.

“When you’re around other military persons, there is a lot of camaraderie,” said Homer Boone, veterans outreach manager for CareerSource Central Florida. “It allows you to communicate better with that person because you havemore in common.”

CareerSource’s Veterans Business Initiative program, which Boone helps run, focuses less on starting businesses while providing training on job-search topics ranging from maximizing networking to writing resumes. Veteran business owners have said that many veterans prefer to get a job rather than start their own firms.

Making vets aware of the programs remainsa challenge, saidBoone, whoservedin theU.S. Marine Corps from1987 to 2007.

“There is still work to do, but we are getting better and have come a longway,” he said.

msantana@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5256; Twitter,@marcosantana