Iona Partners With Syracuse University To Help 'Vetpreneurs'

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — A $5 million federal grant will help the Hynes Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation to help military veterans and their families to create and run successful small businesses.

Iona College’s Hynes Institute was selected by Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) to support their Community Navigator Pilot Program, which is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The grant will support veteran and military spouse-run businesses with entrepreneurship education, small business technical assistance, loan preparation, access to capital and capital readiness, corporate and federal contracting and networking, according to the schools.

Iona College received more than $350,000 in funding. The school said it will work with the IVMF to support the veteran entrepreneurship community both locally and nationally.

"Supporting our veteran and military spouse businesses through entrepreneurship training and technical assistance is core to our mission at Iona College, " Hynes Institute Founding Program Director Christoph Winkler said. "We are honored to join the IVMF as a partner to do this important work over the next two years."

IVMF was named as one of only eight Tier 1 grantees, selected as part of the Biden Administration’s $100 million Community Navigator Pilot Program. The grant program, established as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, is tasked with assisting small businesses hit hard by the pandemic.

"Over the next two years, this program has the potential to impact thousands of veterans and families we serve," IVMF Executive Director Michael Haynie said. "This broadens our national impact, having developed a vast network of alumni and partners who are dedicated to meeting the unique needs of veterans and military-connected families."

The Hynes Institute will now be able to draw on IVMF signature programs delivering cost-free entrepreneurship offerings like Boots to Business (B2B), Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE) and the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV). The programs have assisted more than 75,000 veterans and military families to date, according to the organization.

Haynie said the group's research finds that veterans face a number of unique barriers to launching new businesses. He expects the new pilot program to help offer unique solutions to some of those roadblocks.

“The goal is for military-connected clients to receive efficient, timely, and comprehensive access to the services and resources they need, where they are and when they need them in their entrepreneurial journey," Haynie said.