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The United States Veterans Initiative (U.S. Vets) hosted a “Veterans Business Network” last week on April 19 at the Radisson LAX.

This was a pilot meeting to test the interest in the Veteran Business Network concept.  The idea came from U.S.VETS’ clients of the “Outside the Wire” grant who asked for help meeting veterans from the business community for networking.  Networking is critical for a successful job search and many student veterans were from out of town and had few contacts.  This event was promoted to veterans in the business community and to veterans in the business schools and undergraduate programs.  Only veterans were invited.  All the student veterans applauded this effort and every veteran in the business community whom we approached wanted to help.

We had 44 veterans attend but we reached prior to the event 175 new veteran contacts from the business community.  Many were unfamiliar with U.S.VETS and our services in the Southern California area.  We are now also connected with the Veteran Associations at UCLA, USC, CSUDH, CSULB and other community colleges.  As a result of this meeting, we will be coordinating with other Veteran business networks in the future.  The event was well received and will be held again in 90 days in either Torrance or Long Beach.  We have also been asked to hold the event in Orange County.

It was obvious from the response of those who participated that veterans of all ages from the business community are willing to help the younger student veterans.  There are other efforts to network veterans.  Some of the veteran service organizations, like the American Legion or the Disabled Veterans Business Alliance, have goals to network veterans but often the effort is limited.  U.S.VETS sees an opportunity to offer a networking service to unemployed veterans in each of its geographic markets as part of its expanding employment initiative.

For more information, visit their website: http://www.usvetsinc.org/

Barbara Van Dahlen is a leader in the field of mental health for military in uniform and their families and was recognized by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

In the article, written by retired Admiral Mike Mullen (former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) notes that she is the driving force behind her organization, Give An Hour, that has coordinated and mobilized thousands (thousands!) of mental health professionals to donate their time and provide counseling and help to our military.

Most notable is her efforts to help those suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, a problem that is exceptionally difficult to diagnose and then treat, especially since it still carries a stigma preventing many from discussing or revealing it.

We salute Ms. Van Dahlen for her dedicated and selfless support for the troops.

Sundt Construction, in partnership with The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, The California DVBE Alliance, State of California Department of General Services, and the City of Los Angeles, is hosting an Educational Open House for DVBE Contractors on Tuesday, November 1, 2011.

The open house will be held at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, 700 N. Alameda St, 10th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Download the two flyers for full details and a parking map.

Educational Open House flyer                            Parking Guide 

While it’s all just “pie in the sky” discussion and guessing right now, an article at fusible.com today points out that Google has purchased several new domain names that all point to a veteran’s program of some sort. Whatever they do, it will be more welcome help for vets, especially as things wind down in Iraq and the military there is removed. (Though we will still have a massive presence including several thousand “security” personnel under the State department.)

We hope that this program will give some sort of preference or recognition for disabled veterans and also to those entrepreneurial types that want to start their own businesses.

As reported on www.fraudwhistleblowersblog.com, Lydia Demski, owner of several companies, recently paid an $800,000 fine to resolve False Claims Act allegations. It seems she setup a company, Deerpath International, and falsely identified it as being owned by a service-connected disabled veteran and then won a contract based on the false claim. The work was actually done by another company she owns.

The fraud was discovered because a former employee reported it.

Sadly, it takes a former employee to report these things; the government still does a very poor job of policing themselves and discovering/preventing this type of fraud on its own. It is not found and punished anywhere near often enough.

Orange County parks has something new this year (and presumably will continue in the future).

Currently, a combined pass for both regional parks (Wilderness Park decal) and the beaches costs $80. Seniors 60+ and handicapped can get the pass for $50.

But if you meet the requirements for what OC Parks is calling a “Distinguished Veteran,” you can get the pass for FREE.

Who is a Distinguished Veteran. The web page at OC Parks site says they are one of the following:

• Veterans with a 50% or higher service-connected disability
• Veterans who were held as prisoners of war
• Congressional Medal of Honor recipients

“The Bank of America Foundation is providing a $50,000 grant to support the continued development and expansion of the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities program at the University of Connecticut’s School of Business.”

This was the lead sentence from an article at hartfordbusiness.com that caught my eye this morning. Further reading showed that the same program is also offered a little closer to home for California disabled veterans at UCLA.

The program is for veterans who the VA has designated as having a “service-connected disability.”

Starting a business is not easy. You can do it on your own and muddle your way through, but this is a great opportunity to really learn all the ins and outs and get established and hopefully successful faster and with less errors the the do-it-yourself way.

For information about the program and how to join, visit the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities page at the UCLA Anderson School of Business site.

We all know Gary Sinise, the actor who played Lt. Dan in the movie “Forrest Gump.” Gary is well known and greatly appreciated for his support of the military. He and his band, the Lt. Dan Band, have toured Iraq and Afghanistan and many other military sites with the USO numerous times.

Gary recently formed the Gary Sinise Foundation which honors our nation’s defenders through programs and projects that serve our military, veterans, first responders and their families, as well as supporting other charities such as the USO, Operation International Children, and Snowball Express.

A movie about the Lt. Dan Band and its travels has been made. You can stream and watch it for only $4 here: http://www.ltdanbandmovie.com/. Out of that, $1 will be donated to the Gary Sinise Foundation and its great work.

I encourage all to go and watch the movie and help support our military and some other great charities.

The National Veteran-Owned Business Association has launched a “buy veteran” campaign and, as part of this,  set up a new website BuyVeteran.com where people can look for local businesses that are owned by veterans. This comes after a 2009 poll revealing that 95% of Americans trust veterans because of training under a strict code of ethics.

Lorenzo Buford, Chief Executive Manager of Buford Enterprises International and local veteran, says that the site helps encourage Americans give to veterans after they’re home. “It’s like buying back into America in a sense because every veteran has given their blood, sweat,and tears in different wars…This is the perfect situation where America can now give the veterans the respect that they deserve.”

Buford also says he believes that website will help veterans make up for business lost because of the economy. He says that one of the major problems that veterans face is not being educated in finding contracting work with the government and most rely on private sector business for income.

People looking to search Veteran companies or to purchase “Buy Veteran” gear can go to www.buyveteran.com. Consumers can also look for the “Veteran Owned Business” badge on storefronts while out shopping.

If you’re a DVBE with business in or near Fresno, the Governor’s Small Business Conference on November 10, 2010 will be a great opportunity to learn about programs and to make important contacts with federal, state, and local buyers at the matchmaking event.

It’s free to attend.

To learn more, visit the website: http://californiasbdc.org/smallbusinessconference/fresno.