COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri System supports military veterans with a variety of services and resources to help them on campus, in their communities and in their careers. Starting in March 2025, a new UM program will help veterans start their own businesses and obtain SBA veteran-owned business certification.

Veteran Startup Ventures: Serving Those Who Served is a five-week program that will guide participants as they analyze and develop their business ideas, create business plans and learn how to turn their plans into a working enterprise.

“This is the first entrepreneurship course to incorporate both business plan development and assisting veterans with becoming an SBA-certified small business,” said Mark Christian, instructor and program coordinator for Veteran Startup Ventures.

Each week, students will receive 2-3 hours of in-person class instruction and one-on-one sessions with a business counselor, Christian said. They will learn to assess the viability of a business idea, tap resources to understand customers and markets and use data to make informed decisions. Participants will use several sophisticated online tools for planning, collaboration and communication, such as Liveplan, a business plan and projection tool. The course culminates with a pitch competition in which participants present their business concepts to a panel of expert judges.

The course will also assist students with obtaining certification as a veteran-owned business from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“By becoming a certified veteran-owned business, program participants can bid on federal government contracts that are to go to veteran-owned small businesses,” Christian said. Each year, the federal government sets aside a portion of its contracting dollars for veteran-owned businesses. “Certification gives class participants a competitive advantage,” he said. Small businesses owned by veterans may also qualify to buy surplus government property.

More information about the program will be available at https://extension.missouri.edu/programs/veteran-startup-ventures. Those interested in the program can also fill out an interest form.

Veterans programs on Community Connect

A new section of the University of Missouri System’s Community Connect website highlights resources and programs available to veterans and military-affiliated individuals.

These include veterans support services and resource centers at the four campuses – Mizzou, UMSL, UMKC and Missouri S&T. Services can include assistance with admissions, enrollment and finding housing; peer support and mentoring; health referrals; and veteran outreach.

The Mizzou Veterans Law Clinic in Columbia offers free legal help for issues such as discharge upgrades and disability claims. The clinic’s Tigers for Troops program partners with MU Extension to provide assistance to veterans in rural Missouri.

Through the Small Business Administration, the Veterans Business Outreach Center offers training, workshops, counseling and referrals to service members, veterans and their families.

At Missouri S&T, the Re-Spec-T Program helps service members and veterans transition from a military lifestyle to an academic one and build a successful civilian career.

MU Extension’s Heroes to Hives program supports veterans through free, comprehensive professional training and community development centered around beekeeping.

MU Extension’s Veteran R.E.A.D.S. initiative in Kansas City aims to create a safe space and a community for veterans, active duty service members and their family members to come together and have open dialogues about their experiences in the military.

The University of Missouri System also supports veterans through research and education.

For example, the Missouri Institute for Defense & Energy at UMKC includes educational programs for transitioning service members. UMSL is home to the Missouri Veterans History Project, an independent, not-for-profit corporation with the mission of capturing the first-hand recollections of veterans in order to provide a richer and more personal context to historical accounts.

UMSL also boasts a Veterans Studies program, which provides a research-based curriculum for students interested in studying the veteran experience and enables success for current and future veterans on the UMSL campus and beyond.

The Missouri University of Science and Technology is working with Phelps Health and a U.S. Army research laboratory at Fort Leonard Wood to help tackle the persistent problem of traumatic brain injury among soldiers and recruits.

To learn more about these and other programs, visit https://community.umsystem.edu/veterans.