VBA partnered with Stars and Stripes to create a special edition insert for the publication called “The Veterans Benefits Guide.” The print and digital publication, which highlights VA benefits and services available for transitioning service members and their families, is available now.

The digital version of the Veterans Benefits Guide is available here: Veterans Benefits Guide | Stars and Stripes.

What you can expect

The Veterans Benefits Guide answers most of the commonly asked questions for a variety of benefits and services, including:

• Compensation
• Life insurance
• Pension and fiduciary services
• Education and training programs
• Economic development and employment
• Home loan guaranty programs and housing assistance
• Mental health resources

In addition, the articles include links to helpful resources, such as program eligibility information, yearly benefit program reports, application directions, VBA contact information and much more.

https://blogs.va.gov/VAntage/95660/veterans-benefits-guide-now-available/?utm_source=VetResources&utm_medium=email&utm_id=VetResources+Oct+13+2021

The NASA Small Business Opportunities Virtual Expo 2021 with industry-specific networking rooms* is sponsored by the NASA Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP). This year the Expo will host an overview of the Artemis program to include technical and contractor panels and afternoon industry-specific networking rooms. This virtual event will be from 10 am - 5 pm (EDT) on 7 October 2021.

A virtual program and exhibitor guide will be provided to all registered attendees. Register at this link NASA Small Business Opportunities Virtual Expo 2021 Registration, Thu, Oct 7, 2021 at 10:00 AM | Eventbrite

Who Should Attend?

• Small Businesses who want to do business with NASA.
• Socio-economic Categories: WOSB, HUBZone, and SDVOSB.
• Small Businesses who want to meet and network with NASA Prime Contractors.
• Large Contractors seeking teaming opportunities with Small Businesses.
• Construction companies interested in learning more about NASA contract opportunities.

EVENT DETAILS:

This event is free and open to the public.

For more information or questions, please email smallbusiness@nasa.gov or call 202-358-2088.

*The Government reserves the right to relocate, reschedule or cancel the event.

There are many great entrepreneur support programs available for veterans and military spouses in Florida. One of those is provided through the InLab at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa. The InLab is an innovative center that provides several areas of service to the community, one of which is Operation Startup. Through a unique partnership with the Institute for Veterans and Military Families - IVMF, the InLab offers a free veteran entrepreneurship program called STRIVE. STRIVE assists veterans, and their family members, turn their ideas into a business. Upon completion of the program, graduates are able to apply for grants, seed funding and participate in pitch competitions that award $12,000 in funding.

The program is six weeks and the deadline to apply for the next cohort is September 17. Veterans, and their family members, can learn more about the program at https://www.hccfl.edu/academics/inlabhcc/inlabhcc-veterans/strive or by attending one of the open house events below.

August 28 Open House: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/strive-open-house-virtual-through-zoom-tickets-164520293627

September 7 Open House: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/strive-open-house-virtual-through-zoom-tickets-164521491209

The STRIVE program is provided virtually (so you can attend from any location) and there will be some limited in person seats for those in the Tampa area.

Hero Tour Golf provides PTSD services and mentoring support for veterans in need.   ACTS Mentoring Ministry is a faith-based organization. 

Fundraising events are hosted by local golf courses and veterans and first responders GOLF for FREE!!! 

For more information and golf schedule events.  https://herogolftour.com/

Here is what's offered in June!!!

• Are You the Next Veteran Entrepreneur? Vet-to-Vet Advice About Business Ownership
• Growing Your Business Globally - Three Fearless Female Founders Share the Keys to Success
• Fundamentals of Starting a Food & Beverage Business
• How to Make Your Business Bankable
• A Step-by-Step Approach to Writing a One-Page Business Plan
• Patents & Trademarks
• Small Business Marketing
• Connect with Customers and Manage Your Business Remotely
• What’s My Business Worth?

Blogs and Recorded Business Training Videos

SBA Learning Center - https://www.sba.gov/learning-center

Recorded webinars from SCORE - https://www.score.org/recorded-webinars Training Videos from the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network  - http://floridasbdc.org/training-videos/ Sign up to get SBA E-Newletter and updates -  https://www.sba.gov/updates

As part of our SBA Strategic Alliance Memorandum, we invite all FAVOB members to leverage the services offered by the SBA.  

Webinars are offered every month.  Topics include - financing, marketing and social media, cybersecurity, importing and exporting, starting, buying, growing and selling a business, doing business with the federal government and small business certification assistance.  

Webinars are listed on the South Florida District Office website https://www.sba.gov/offices/district/fl/miami  and Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/o/lonnie-koyama-9878643818

For more information or assistance, please contact Lonnie Koyama, our SBA representative.  

Lonnie Koyama, Lead Economic Development Specialist

South Florida District Office U.S. Small Business Administration

505 South 2nd Street, Fort Pierce, FL 34950

Office: 772- 466-3176

Cell: 772-332-7311

leon.koyama@sba.gov

Ed Ramos, Senior Area Manager for the SBA, will be leading a workshop to help veteran owned business understand the government surplus programs. The government provides access to millions of dollars of surplus equipment and supplies to qualifying small businesses, particularly including veteran owned businesses. Ed will discuss how to identify federal surplus property through the State of Florida Surplus Property Agency.

Kara Vernon, Procurement Specialist with the Florida PTAC, will also discuss basic VOSB eligibility and the CVE SD/VOSB program. Both speakers will also be available for questions at the conclusion of the presentation.

Here are the details for this event:

Date: Wednesday, May 19th

Time: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST

Where: Virtual. Login details available after registration.

Registration: https://clients.floridasbdc.org/reg.aspx?mode=event&event=500410068

Sponsored by: United States Small Business Administration (SBA)

Hosted by: The Florida PTAC at UCF

Hosted by : Sandy Pfrimmer

Operations Coordinator

Florida SBDC at Eastern Florida State College

1519 Clearlake Road, Bldg. 3 Suite 114

Cocoa, FL 32922

P. 321.433.5570

pfrimmers@easternflorida.edu

www.easternflorida.edu/go/sbdc

This free webinar is presented by the University of Central Florida's Innovation Districts. Whether you are familiar with the Government SBIR/STTR process or not, this session will prove valuable insights regarding "how to write and format your proposal for maximum readability" and "how to get through all those registrations" to even submit the proposal. This actually applies to lots of different types of proposals since how you WRITE is so very important in telling your story. Your proposal and its formatting should enhance readability by reviewers and showcases your technology to its best advantage and, thus, improve the competitiveness of your proposal. This webinar will also help take the mystery out of registrations with tips on how to get started, where to register for what and how to get help.

The webinar will be held from 9 am - 12 pm (EDT) on 11 May. Register here.

From Veteran to Entrepreneur - Steps to Start and Find Funding

PART of MONTHLY SBA offerings. 

• Blogs and Recorded Business Training Videos
• SBA Learning Center - https://www.sba.gov/learning-center
• Recorded webinars from SCORE - https://www.score.org/recorded-webinars
• Training Videos from the Florida Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network - http://floridasbdc.org/training-videos/
• Sign up to get SBA E-Newletter and updates - https://www.sba.gov/updates

Tuesday, May 4, 2021 from 1pm to 2pm EST

Veterans have the skills needed to be successful business owners, but their rate of self-employment has been declining.

This educational webinar, presented by entrepreneurial experts Tammy Durden and Wendy Dickinson, will discuss how to make a successful transition of going from Veteran to Entrepreneur, and provide step-by-step guidance on filing proper documents to gain the funds to power your business.

You will learn:

• The actionable steps to begin
• How to obtain funding
• Agency resources that can help you
• And more…

https://readytalk.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1444293&tp_key=e5c348c4e7&sti=scoreeventpage

SBA is partnering with its newest 7(j) training provider, NetQuarry, Inc. to provide market intelligence, training, and technical assistance to 7(j) eligible small businesses.  NetQuarry’s exciting new state of the art online government business development platform (called Bidspeed) will help 7(j) eligible firms improve their business development and ultimately help your firms win new Government Business.

 

This training provided by NetQuarry includes frequent briefings on open Federal Opportunities, personalized Federal Market Intelligence, training on best practice business development, and technical assistance on finding, managing, and capturing Federal contracts.  NetQuarry’s activities will help 7(j) eligible small businesses sell their goods and services to Federal agencies, gain a foothold in the Federal marketplace, and increase the number and dollar amount of captured awards. 

 

NetQuarry’s unique Bidspeed Platform provides complete access to up-to-the-minute data on Federal opportunities, forecasts, recent awards, expiring and renewing contracts all combined with technical assistance and training that includes best-practice knowledge and processes.  The Bidspeed Platform will help small business concerns better understand the Federal procurement landscape, better allocate their marketing and business development resources, and make more timely decisions that increase teaming opportunities and lead to winning new Federal contracts, and is a unique solution that provides empirical intelligence specifically designed to combine data from multiple data sources into a single actionable product for small business contractors.  NetQuarry’s Bidspeed Platform uniquely brings together many sources of data across the Federal marketplace in one place, including data from FPDS, SAM, FBO, SBIR/STTR, NAICS, and Grants.gov, that will help small businesses better understand and manage their business development efforts.

 

**Please see attached marketing flyer and training calendar for more details about this exciting new training and how 7(j) eligible firms can register.

 

NetQuarry Inc. (Bidspeed) 7j Training Schedule - May 2021.pdf

One of our great nonprofit members, OASIS of Central Florida, has a scholarship opportunity closing in the next week.

The OASIS Matthew J Hearon Scholarship will provide $5,000 to both a male and female recipient this year. Applicants must meet the following criteria:

- Must reside in Florida

- Must be active in a high school JROTC program

- Must be a JROTC senior

- Must have plans to enter the military or enroll in a college ROTC program

Applications close on 15 April 2021. Apply and get additional information on their website www.oasisofcfl.org. For further questions or information, please contact the Director of Scholarships, Patty Carlson, at scholarship@oasisofcfl.org or 607-684-5483.

Good luck, and thank you for helping OASIS honor the legacy of Colonel Matthew J Hearon. COL Hearon served as the Commander of the 164th ADA Brigade for the Florida National Guard. He distinguished himself with over 35 years of selflessness to his community, state and nation. COL Hearon’s extraordinary service and commitment to the Army Values reflected great credit to all his accomplishments. His legacy is a source of great pride and has left an indelible mark on the Florida National Guard and his service to our country.