The Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust has granted the Burton Blatt
Institute (BBI) $35,000 to continue its partnership with the Whitman School of
Management at Syracuse University to conduct its Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for
Veterans with Disabilities (EBV). The EBV offers cutting-edge, experiential training in
small business management and entrepreneurship to U.S. military veterans disabled as
a result of their service to their country. The EBV program was founded in the Whitman
School at Syracuse University in 2007 and has since expanded to the Anderson School
of Management at UCLA, Florida State University's College of Business, the Mays
Business School at Texas A&M and the Krannert School of Management at Purdue
University.
The DAV sponsorship of BBI supports the institute's work with each of the five
participating universities related to the disability components of the program. BBI
provides disability-related curriculum, training and resources for veterans enrolled in
the program at each campus. BBI staff and partners deliver training, benefit planning
and consultation to the participating veterans before, during and after each session to
assist them in making informed decisions about business goals and business incentives
and resources available to entrepreneurs with disabilities or employers that hire
workers with disabilities. The program provides information to veterans about
disability benefits and incentives available to them to facilitate business start-up,
including tax credits and deductions available to hire and accommodate other disabled
veterans when businesses grow.
"The EBV program allows BBI to apply its expertise as a problem solver and innovator
in the advancement of employment goals for individuals with disabilities to the
community of veterans who pursue self-employment," says BBI Chief Operating
Officer James Schmeling. "DAV's support for this program allows us to continue to
work at the intersection of disability, veteran's issues and self-employment."
"This program leverages BBI's experience in self-employment for people with
disabilities and provides an opportunity to combine world-class entrepreneurship
training with BBI's pioneering work on disability and economic self-sufficiency," says
BBI Managing Director for Program Development Gary Shaheen.
BBI fosters public-private dialogue to advance the civic, economic and social
participation of persons with disabilities in a global society. The institute takes its
name from Burton Blatt (1927-85), a pioneer in humanizing services for people with
disabilities. BBI currently has offices in Syracuse; New York City; Washington, D.C.;
Atlanta; and Tel Aviv. For more information, visit
http://bbi.syr.edu or contact
Schmeling at (315) 443-8953 or jschmeli@law.syr.edu.
For more information on the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, visit
http://whitman.syr.edu/ebv/.
