A crash course in business for veterans

Twenty-six veterans of recent wars have come to Cornell to learn how to start their own businesses.

The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) hosted by the School of Hotel Administration (SHA), offers cutting-edge, experiential training in entrepreneurship and small-business management to soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who were disabled as a result of their service to the country in post-9/11 wars.

“Just over 50 percent of veterans leaving the service today have some physical or mental disabilities,” said Neil Tarallo, senior lecturer at SHA and director of EBV at Cornell. “Entrepreneurship can empower these veterans by allowing them to craft a career that suits their lifestyles.”

Veterans are more successful as entrepreneurs than any other group in the U.S., he noted. “Military training reinforces and teaches behaviors necessary for successful entrepreneurship,” he explained.

Cornell’s program is one of eight offered by a consortium of colleges and universities across the country. It is the first EBV program to offer training focused on hospitality management.

EBV is entirely free to disabled veterans and does not require them to use any benefits such as the GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program. They start with an online course in business and entrepreneurship followed by a residency on the Cornell campus, where they take classes led by SHA faculty, the Culinary Institute of America and industry experts. They are then given one year of continued support and mentoring as they launch their businesses. Nationally, 70 percent of EBV students have gone on to start a business, with 92 percent still operating after 2 years.

The EBV program was launched in 2007 at the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University and expanded to a consortium of schools. Nationwide, it is supported by the EBV Foundation established by Syracuse University alumni Ted and Cheryl Lachowicz and their two daughters, Danielle and Tia. The lead sponsors of Cornell EBV are the Marriott Foundation and Harris Rosen ’61.

Media Contact

Joe Schwartz