Wright State to start Veterans Academy… oh, wait, wasn’t that Esrati’s idea?

Yesterday Wright State announced they got a huge donation from Reynolds and Reynolds to launch a “Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV) program.”

If you’ve been reading this site for a long time, this may sound familiar.

The Veteran’s Business Group I was a co-founder of back in 2005, VOB 108 (later VOB Ohio) did the very same thing, back in 2011.

For our veterans: Vetrepreneur Academy

There are groups all over the country- like VOB108.org that I started with two other paratroopers- to help vets help themselves. We’ve been around since 2005, and been a 501-c6 non-profit for the last 2 years.
We’ve recently secured a grant to start providing training for any veteran with an honorable discharge, training and consulting in starting and operating a business.
The classes begin June 14 and run weekly on Tuesday nights through September. We’ll be holding them at WSU in Rike Hall- the business school building from 6pm to 9pm. Register by calling 877-299-0700 or emailing (long since gone email)Visit this page for a complete listing of classes: (link long dead)

Other cities like Pittsburgh PA are making concerted efforts to become known as veteran-friendly cities. VOB108 has been making efforts to make Ohio a more vet friendly state as well and has proposed that Dayton consider focusing on recruiting veterans to repopulate our neighborhoods- filling vacant homes instead of tearing them down.

So, if you know a veteran either in business, or considering starting a business, please think of them this Memorial Day and send them this post.

Source: For our veterans: Vetrepreneur Academy | Esrati

Then, there were the long standing talks I had starting with Dr. David Hopkins about repositioning and rebranding the university. After years of talking to people drinking the lobbyist Kool-aid from the Dayton Development Coalition and the University’s near fatal loss of $130M from the failed research institute and wild spending to enrich board members (One of whom is Mike Turner’s biggest fan- having OVER donated not once, but twice forcing refunds- Michael Bridges of the 8a company- Peerless Technologies), I finally just released my intro document to the world after realizing new president Sue Edwards was just as much a marketing noob as her predecessors.

How to pull Wright State back from the self-inflicted sinking

Posted on December 8, 2020 @ 9:59 pm by David Esrati

Veterans Educational Network

It’s been hammered hard by the local lobbyists that the success of the region depends almost entirely on the strength of the base. While it may be the largest single site employer in the state, tying the future to the industry of war and destruction is usually not aligned to the goals of higher ed.

However, the pool of students looking for educational opportunities to transition from warrior to worker is large, and the challenges of transition are many. (As a Service-Disabled Veteran who owns a certified SDVOSB, I am qualified to speak on this. I also founded a veteran’s business association, VOB 108 which ran a Vetrepreneur academy).

While Wright State has greatly expanded its veterans service office in the 30 years since I graduated, there are other universities that have made far greater progress in supporting the veteran community.

The most impressive organization I’ve connected to is based at Syracuse University. Their Institute for Veterans and Military Families has put together outreach programs that are at a totally different level than other veteran transition programs. https://ivmf.syracuse.edu/

It’s my recommendation for Wright State to join their network of institutions of higher learning to provide access to their programs and collaborate, instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. https://ivmf.syracuse.edu/programs/entrepreneurship/resources/

Source: How to pull Wright State back from the self-inflicted sinking

Glad to see that your future congressman had great ideas over a decade ago- and actually tried to do them. Maybe Wright State will read the rest of that plan and steal some more of my ideas- un-compensated of course.

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