By Debbie Gregory

Veteran Business Owner Sonny Tosco is a go-getter. The 30 year-old entrepreneur is not shy about going after what he wants.

That skill came in handy during his time at West Point, his six years of service as an Army operations officer, and most recently in his role as CEO of Limelight Mobile,  a social platform that lets users source real-time images from anywhere in the world.

Tosco came from a low income California immigrant family.  He knew the only way to get ahead was to attend a top-tier school and excel.  In 2002, Tosco was accepted to West Point.

The transition from West Point to active duty had its challenges, and Tosco used his off-duty time to explore entrepreneurship.  As a result, not only did he learn a lot of valuable information, his military career began to improve.

During his deployment to Bahrain, Tosco found that the media had misrepresented the situation on the ground. While they were prepared for battle, the areas where he was deployed to still had American families, conducting daily life as usual.

He felt that had Limelight existed back then, things would have been different. The community driven app designed to crowd source photos from anywhere on earth would have allowed him to see anywhere in the world in real time. He would have been able to reach out to anyone on the map and ask them to send a photo of their location. And that quality information would have benefitted pre-deployment preparation.

But life is not without tragedy, and the successive loss of both of his parents, a good friend, as well as the miscarriage of his child left Tosco revaluating his life. In 2012, he decided to transition out of the military. His military career came to an end, but his entrepreneurial journey was just beginning.

Today, Tosco is raising seed funding for the second version of the app.  Approximately 35% of all users log in on a daily basis, compared to the 5% for other social platforms.

Tosco connected with Don Faul, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the COO of Pinterest, who has provided Tosco and his team with guidance.

Sonny Tosco is achieving his dream.

Each year, during National Small Business Week, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) District Offices recognize various small businesses for their contributions in their community.

The SBA Los Angeles District Office awarded Geoffrey Reyes of Servitek Solutions the 2017 Veteran Business Champion of the Year Award. The award is given to an individual who has fulfilled a commitment to advancing small business opportunities for veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Servitek Solutions, Inc. is an electrical construction company based in City of Industry, California. Under the skilled leadership of Reyes, Servitek grew from a part-time engineering consulting service operating out of a spare bedroom to a full-service, multidisciplinary electrical contracting company. Servitek builds electrical, data, security, and transportation infrastructure for public works.

Reyes separated from the Navy in 2000.  He obtained his Master’s degree in Engineering Management and worked in the private sector defense industry for five years. His entrepreneurial character, natural negotiating skills and passionate attitude fueled his desire to start his own business. In 2008, Servitek Solutions, Inc. was born.

Reyes is also an avid speaker at various contract readiness workshops, and is featured in the Department of General Services Disabled Veteran Enterprise (DVBE) program.  He also is one of CalVet’s DVBE Advisory Council members.

VAMBOA, the Veterans and Military Business Owners Association congratulates Geoffrey Reyes and Servitek.

By Debbie Gregory.

Northern California played host to the VETCON conference that was held in March for veteran entrepreneurs.

The percentage of Veterans who are starting their own businesses is steadily declining. Today’s veterans are not launching companies at the same high rate as past generations. More than 40 percent of veterans returning from World War II and Korea began their own businesses, as compared today, where that number is less than five percent.

Important takeaways regarding veteran business owners/entrepreneurs from the conference include the following:

1. Veterans build different kinds of companies than  civilian entrepreneurs
2. Veterans have a desire to create social impact in their communities, rather than just making money
3. Veterans often stumble into great entrepreneurial opportunities and leverage their military experience
4. Veteran overcome challenges and execute at a world-class level.
5. Veterans will work together to help fellow veterans, and those who are successful want to see other veterans succeed with their own companies.
6. Veterans tend to build revenues, and are not big fans of venture capital.
7. There is diversity among veteran owned  businesses, and more women are becoming veteran entrepreneurs

Veterans have the discipline, work ethic, leadership skills and other dynamic traits to succeed. I believe the best is yet to come, and veteran entrepreneurship will be growing and at a rapid rate.  In the future, we should be seeing more and more veteran business owners in all types of businesses.   And it is a fact that Americans trust veterans, and truly want to do business with them.

The National Veteran Small Business Coalition (NVSBC) is proud to announce that First Sergeant Matt Eversmann, U.S. Army (Retired) will be the keynote speaker at The Veteran Entrepreneur Training Symposium (VETS) 2017. The Symposium, on June 13 will take place at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott in Norfolk, Virginia.
Sgt. Eversmann’s inspiring story was told in the book and epic film, “Black Hawk Down.” Sgt. Eversmann and his unit deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia to capture a fugitive warlord wanted by the United Nations for genocide and other atrocities. For eighteen hours, his Ranger unit and Delta Forces were trapped inside a hostile area in Mogadishu; vastly outnumbered by an angry mob and under fierce attack until they were rescued. Sgt. Matt Eversmann was portrayed by Josh Hartnett.
Committed to sharing the lessons he learned in the military, Sgt. Eversmann draws parallels from his experiences to highlight the importance of leadership, courage and responsibility within any team or organization. Humble, gracious and warm, his powerful story and straightforward insights on instilling these values stay with business leaders long after the applause has ended.
You won’t want to miss his keynote speech, which is sure to leave an emotional impact. For more info, go to www.veterantrainingsymposium.com

By Debbie Gregory.

Many U.S. military veterans leave their service branch with skills and attributes necessary to succeed as veteran business owners.

Often times, the main roadblock for these entrepreneurs is financing their new mission: to become a veteran business owner or a service disabled veteran business owner.

If you’re looking to start or expand your business, there are a number of financing options available.

Start with the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Veteran Entrepreneur Portal.  The website features all things related to veteran entrepreneurship, including a customized wizard that will identify financing resources to support the start-up, development, or growth of veteran owned small businesses.

The U.S. Small Business Administration created the Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan to offer very low-interest loans to help reservists rebuild their businesses after serving their country. Reservists who are also business owners have to balance those two responsibilities in addition to their families. This loan is limited to businesses that the SBA determines would be unable to recover without government assistance.

Another SBA program designed to serve a particular subsection military veterans is the Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Program. Veterans with a service-connected disability who are principal owners of a small business may be connected with sole-source government contracts of up to $5 million.

StreetShares offers a loan platform where investors compete in an online auction format to fund different portions of an applicant’s business loans. The investor that offers the lowest interest rate “wins” the agreement.   StreetShares’ non-profit foundation has partnered with JP Morgan Chase to commit $10,000 per month in awards to eligible reserve or active-duty service members and military veteran small business owners. Three winners are chosen monthly to split a $10,000 prize based on the merits of their business plan and the potential impact of the business on the military and veterans communities.

Non-profit Accion Veteran-Owned Business Loans provides loans up to $1 million, depending on the business’ need. Accion is often able to fund loans for veteran business owners who may not be eligible for commercial loans.