By Debbie Gregory

StreetShares, Inc., one of VAMBOA’s strategic partners, is a lending and investing community for veterans and their supporters. StreetShares’ principals have announced the formation of the StreetShares Foundation.

The goal of the StreetShares Foundation is to inspire, educate, and support veteran small business owners. The foundation is partnering with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to provide up to $10,000 each month in Veteran Small Business Awards.

Both StreetShares Foundation and StreetShares, Inc. are veteran-operated..

Iraq War veteran Mark L. Rockefeller, CEO/Co-Founder of StreetShares, said, “Veteran business ownership has been the backbone of the United States economy since World War II. The goal of the StreetShares Foundation is to provide a new generation of veteran and military-spouse small business owners the support they need to thrive.”

The Foundation plans to give three Veteran Small Business Awards each month. Small businesses owned by military veterans, current reserve or active duty members, and qualified military spouses are eligible to apply. The awards are $2,000 for third place, $3,000 for second place, and $5,000 for the first place winner.

Award applications and educational material can be found on the foundation’s website at StreetShares.com/Foundation.

StreetShares had previously conducted a small award program. Last year’s winners collectively reported increasing revenues by over $1 million, hiring 24 new employees, and scoring a “Shark Tank” TV show appearance. With sponsorship from JPMorgan Chase and others, the StreetShares Foundation has plans to substantially expand the award program.

The Veteran Small Business Award program encourages everyone who supports veterans and entrepreneurship to participate in voting for their favorite veteran business at StreetShares.com/Foundation. Finalists will be presented for public vote each month.

We at VAMBOA are proud to partner with StreetShares and further the opportunities they present to military owned and veteran owned businesses.

VAMBOA, a non-profit trade association for Service-disabled business owners, Veteran business owners and Military business owners, works to assist these entrepreneurs start, maintain, and grow their companies.

Veteran and Military Business Owners Association (VAMBOA) is announcing that it has surpassed 5,000 memberships of Service-disabled business owners, Veteran business owners and Military business owners, with over 105,000 followers on Twitter.

In the military, personnel are asked to complete an infinite array of tasks, and failure is not an option. Officers, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen are often provided limited resources and miniscule budgets to complete their missions. But through American ingenuity, and a determination that dwells in the hearts of those who serve, they are driven to complete their missions.

Thousands of Veterans have put that same drive into running their own businesses. Veteran owned businesses account for over $1 trillion in receipts per year. Veteran owned businesses are a vital part of our nation’s economy. It is for that reason that federal, state and local governments provide special loans, incentives and allotments to help Veteran owned businesses succeed. There are even further provisions, governed by law, for service-disabled Veterans.

“There are scores of programs and benefits designed to help Service-disabled, Veteran and Military owned businesses succeed,” said VAMBOA’s founder, Debbie Gregory. “At VAMBOA, we have made it our mission to connect these Veterans with the resources they need to start and maintain a successful business.”

Since 2010, VAMBOA has been providing its members with the knowledge of these government provisions that help Service-disabled Veteran business owners, Veteran business owners and military business owners succeed. VAMBOA also assists its members by providing business coaching, links to resources, and networking opportunities that are crucial to the success of their businesses. VAMBOA also connects it members to contacts within large corporations and government agencies who can mentor members, and in some cases, can even directly provide members with government contracts and vending contracts within large corporations.

VAMBOA is a 501(c)6 non-profit organization and does not charge dues for membership. VAMBOA relies on corporate sponsorship. If you would like to find out more about corporate sponsorship, contact VAMBOA’s founder, Debbie Gregory at: info@vamboa.org. VAMBOA has a significant reach and is the Go To Site for Corporations to Connect with Service-disabled and Veteran Business Owners.

In 1546, writer, sildenafil John Heywood was credited for the phrase, viagra “Many hands make light work.” But for small businesses, especially Veteran owned small businesses, very few hands carry a majority of the load. The success or failure of a small business can easily be shaped by the presence or absence of its owner, or a key employee.

With the number of Reservists who own small businesses and have been called to active duty in support of their country, a significant number of them have seen their economic fortunes suffer as a result of their military service. But the good news is that there is relief for these entrepreneurs.

Small businesses that sustained economic losses due to their owner or a key employee being summoned to active duty can apply for a loan of up to $2 million from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

The SBA provides Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan (MREIDL) to small businesses affected by the absence of a critical military employee. Applications for MREIDL loans are accepted any time from the date that the member was notified of their call-up to one year after the date of discharge or release from active duty. The loans are designed to allow eligible small business to maintain a current balance on operating expenses that the business could have covered if the business owner hadn’t been called to active duty.

The MREIDL program is managed by the SBA’s Office of Disaster Assistance. The loan is a direct working capital loan, not meant to grow or expand the recipient business, but to maintain the funding of daily operations. It also can’t be used to replace lost profits or refinance long term debt. Interest rates on MREIDL loans are at 4%. No collateral is required to secure MREIDL loans of $50, 000 or less.

Interested Reservist business owners should visit the SBA’s MREIDL portal where they can find more information, including how to apply for the loan. Reservist business owners can also call the SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email the office at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.