Entrepreneurship Resource Network
This page includes upcoming events and workshops for military-connected entrepreneurs and directories of community resources; grant opportunities; federal contracting opportunities; and veteran owned businesses, along with state census data, learnings from past Entrepreneurship Summits, and a shared entrepreneurship resource tracker.
Entrepreneurship Resources
Participants with a focus on entrepreneurship in the military and veteran community form the backbone of the Entrepreneurship Resource Network. This directory includes veteran owned businesses and nonprofits within the network and those supporting entrepreneurship among service members, veterans, and spouses.
Grant Opportunities
The shared outreach calendar includes a tag for #grants. Use this tag when submitting open grants to be sure organizations can find them here. Enter the date/time of the event as when applications are due. You can add a notice with the dates applications are open.
Federal Contracting Opportunities
The Acquisition.gov Forecast Tool provides a nationwide dashboard of upcoming federal contracting opportunities. Projected procurements are subject to revision or cancellation. Final decisions on any aspect of the procurement are made if/when a solicitation is posted to SAM.gov.
Veteran Owned Businesses in Massachusetts
The development of a current, centralized listing of Veteran Owned Businesses in Massachusetts has been a common need raised by Veterans Collaborative participants. This directory is primarily based on publicly available information and listings.
Massachusetts Annual Business Survey
In October 2023, the US Census Bureau released the most recent 2022 data from the Annual Business Survey, which includes information at the state level on veteran-owned businesses within:
Company Summaries and Characteristics of Businesses tables by industry, sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status and Characteristics of Business Owners tables by Service-Disabled and Other Veteran Characteristics
Module Business Characteristics tables by industry, sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status, including Effect of Coronavirus on Business Sales, Level of Operations During Coronavirus Pandemic, Level of Operations During Coronavirus Pandemic, and Outstanding Debt
Entrepreneurship Resource Network
Key Topics
We encourage representatives from organizations across the public, private, and non-profit sectors to work together to support military, veteran, and spouses who are entrepreneurs and are focused on:
Raising awareness of opportunities, programs, and opportunities for veteran owned businesses
Encouraging employment-focused organizations to also connect service members, veterans, and their families to entrepreneurship programs, small business opportunities, and incubators
Developing and maintaining a current list of Veteran Owned Businesses in Massachusetts to support outreach efforts and create an access point for those looking to do business with them
Sharing data regarding the landscape overall of Veteran Owned Businesses
Forming affinity groups to organize and facilitate community summits on relevant topics and issues and to collect and share information and resources on this page
Submitting events to the shared calendar using the tag #entrepreneurship and other tags as needed so they appear above and on relevant resource and community pages.
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On May 11, 2017, we convened an Employment & Entrepreneurship Summit, hosted by Brighton Marine. The focus of the summit was on programs supporting employment and entrepreneurship among veterans. We also reviewed RAND’s recent Assessment of Needs, Well-Being, & Available Resources for Veterans in Massachusetts. The program included presentations from:
Barry Rosenbloom, TechSandBox VET program for military entrepreneurs in tech
Chris Pratt, Veteran Entrepreneur Series
Christopher Feugill, on state, local, federal, and non-profit employment resources for veterans.
Presentations were followed by deep dive discussions in breakout groups on veteran entrepreneurship and employment, including discussion of the relevant findings from the RAND report.
Veteran Owned Businesses & Nonprofit Network
Entrepreneurship Resource Tracker
“Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”