Syracuse University Helps Wounded Vets Start Small Businesses

Tonight, 60 Minutes ran a story about  veteran Mike Haynie, who has created a course to teach vets how to launch their own businesses at the Whitman School of Management   The segment starts as follows: 

In January, Walmart pledged to hire any recent veteran who wanted a job – the company projects that could be 100,000 vets in the next five years. That’s a big commitment at a time when it’s needed.

 

There are three million Americans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and they face a host of problems when they come home. It’s not just unemployment, nearly half have a disability because of their service. Most tragically, more soldiers killed themselves last year than died at the hands of the enemy.

 

One veteran turned business school professor has an innovative solution to help them succeed as civilians: give the vets a new mission — business ownership. Funded in part by Walmart, PepsiCo and other companies, he started a small business incubator, tailor-made to help disabled vets trade in their combat boots for business suits.