WASHINGTON — The U.S. Small Business Administration said Tuesday it is starting a $500,000 national pilot program with the nonprofit VetsinTech to help military veterans build businesses in the drone and aerospace industries.
The agency announced the program on the first day of National Veterans Small Business Week. SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler, a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, said veterans have the expertise needed to strengthen U.S. supply chains and the defense industrial base, and she described the effort as part of what the administration calls building an “Arsenal of Freedom.”
Editor’s note: Trump is frequently dishonest, and thousands of his lies have been documented.
“By working with VetsinTech, SBA is deploying capital directly into a high-impact, veteran-led network that connects our nation’s heroes with financing, federal procurement, and workforce development in critical skilled jobs,” Loeffler said.
According to the SBA, the pilot is designed to reach 1,000 veterans, transitioning service members and military spouses. About 100 early-stage businesses would be chosen for regional groups, and 25 established companies would get help expanding.
VetsinTech, which the agency said has 120,000 members in 29 chapters, will run training camps covering pitching, regulations and financing, with referrals from the SBA’s Veterans Business Outreach Centers. Companies with at least $1 million in annual revenue could receive help raising capital and be matched with investors through the VetVC network, the SBA said. The program also aims to help startups pursue military contracts and to connect companies with veteran and military-spouse workers.
“This generation of warfighters understands unmanned systems from the operational side,” said Katherine Webster, chief executive of VetsinTech. “The ViT Vets in Drones program will give them the business training, mentors and customer connections to turn that experience into companies that build here at home.”
The SBA put the U.S. drone and dual-use aerospace market at $10.75 billion and said the program is meant to close supply chain gaps in that sector. It follows the agency’s recent creation of a Smaller War Plants Commission.
Regional groups are planned for the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Washington and Northern Virginia, Austin and San Antonio in Texas, and Florida. The SBA said locations will be coordinated with Pentagon priorities. No New Jersey site was listed.
Matt Coleman, the SBA’s Atlantic regional administrator, said the program would help veterans “bring that same determination to build American-made drone and aerospace businesses.”
The SBA’s Office of Veterans Business Development operates 51 Veterans Business Outreach Center locations nationwide. The agency said its Boots to Business programs have trained nearly 260,000 service members, veterans and military spouses since 2013. More information is available at sba.gov/veterans.
This report is based on a press release from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
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