The Veterans Business Outreach Center offers loan and grant application assistance, business development training, government procurement and more.
Many small business owners struggle to make their dreams a reality, and the rate of failure during the first five years is a daunting 45%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Veterans Business Outreach Center at Long Beach City College is determined to make sure local veterans are not part of that failure rate.
The Veterans Business Outreach Center, partnered with and operated through Long Beach City College (LBCC), has received a $100,000 state grant to expand its services to the six counties it serves.
In May, the center began assisting veterans and their spouses from Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties to get their small businesses off the ground or to help propel them to the next level.
The office offers a wide range of services such as business plan development, business strategy and development, training programs, loan and grant application assistance and more. The original $375,000 in funding to get the LBCC office started was from the United States Small Business Administration and will be renewed every year through 2028.
The U.S. funds about 28 similar offices around the country, often serving communities much too large to reach everyone in need. To meet the growing need, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced the available funding for qualified applicants, and LBCC was chosen to host the program.
LBCC’s office is only the third office of its kind in California, along with offices in San Diego and Humboldt, and has already served 90 veterans through one-on-one sessions since May.
According to the U.S. Census, here’s how many veterans live in the six counties covered by the LBCC Veterans Business Outreach Center, as of 2021:
- Los Angeles County: 242,668
- Orange County: 99,720
- Riverside Country: 114,259
- San Bernardino County: 86,686
- Santa Barbara County: 19,061
- Ventura County: 36,784
Along with one-on-one sessions, the center makes a point to visit each military base in its area of service and holds regular workshops in the surrounding communities.
Pat Nye runs the Veterans Business Outreach Center at LBCC, along with the college’s two other economic development programs that assist small businesses. The Veterans Business Outreach Center is the only one that focuses on assisting veterans and their spouses.
As a veteran who served in the Coast Guard, Nye said “I take pride in helping the people that I served alongside.”
“It’s really important to do this for veterans as well, they often don’t think about those services available,” Nye said.
Nye said the most important service the Veterans Business Outreach Center offers is its loan and grant assistance along with helping entrepreneurs gain government procurement.
Federal, state and local governments all have a certain amount of money set aside to assist small businesses, which Nye said is “a challenge” for them to spend all of their available funding. This is because most businesses are not “positioned” to get these government contracts, Nye said.
“You really have to work to position your business in a certain way to take advantage of that,” Nye said.
The Veterans Business Outreach Center helps businesses become qualified for these contracts by meeting certain requirements and gaining certificates to apply. The office also helps veteran’s spouses since many of them move locations often and are unable to keep a traditional job.
Services offered by the Veterans Business Outreach Center are free, and residents can call 844-595-8262 to see if they qualify.
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