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Entrepreneurship Boot Camp
Fred “Randy” Blass, founder of the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans With Disabilities and the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans’ Families at Florida State University. (Bill Lax/FSU Photo Services)
On June 19, a group of post-9/11 veterans will enter a different kind of boot camp. The group of 23 veterans will begin a 10-day intensive program that will teach them how to build or grow their own small businesses.
The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) is a free program designed to help veterans disabled during service to have independent, fruitful lives.
“The post-9/11 vet is most likely going through a transition,” said Randy Blass, director of The Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship and director of the College of Business Center for Veteran Outreach. “We are trying to … help shape a transition at the point of hanging up the boots.”
The veterans selected have different plans, from social businesses to consulting careers. Some leverage their service experience, such as former motor pool Sgt. Renee Floyd, who started a mobile oil change service in Columbus, Ga.
While recuperating from severe burns from an explosion in Iraq, J.R. Martinez began visiting other burn units to say, “You can do this man, hang in there,” said Blass.
Martinez starting getting invited to speak to groups; he was reluctant to accept money, yet he had living expenses. Through the EBV program, Martinez was able to turn his story of struggle into a source of hope for others, and a source of income for himself, as a motivational speaker.
“When you meet J.R., you don’t see the scars, you see this amazing spirit,” said Blass.
Participants come from all different backgrounds, and have different goals; what they have in common, according to Blass, is the drive to put their ideas into action.
J.R. Martinez attends ‘Got Your 6’ press conference on May 10 in Los Angeles. (Valerie Macon/Getty Images)
Blass, himself a veteran, understands the challenges veterans face. After he retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel with two master’s degrees and a doctorate degree, he was planning to teach business part-time at Florida State University.
All of that changed when Blass was invited by his friend, Michael Haynie, to teach at the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, where Haynie was the director. Inspired by his experience in Syracuse, Blass founded EBV at Florida State. EBV has since grown to serve veterans around the country through a consortium of eight schools.
Working with veterans to develop their dreams is powerful stuff. Starting off, Blass wasn’t expecting the emotional impact. “I wasn’t prepared for men and women coming back from the war with injuries and showing such gratitude to me, thanking me, after all they had given for their country,” he said.
These days, Blass spends much of his time fundraising and recruiting the best teachers to donate their expertise to EBV. Just as Blass did, many teachers find the experience of working with veterans extremely rewarding. According to Blass, once they have taught one class, “They say, count me in next year.”
This session of boot-camp attendees will be welcomed with an inspirational story of success from EBV’s own J.R. Martinez.
The Epoch Times publishes in 35 countries and in 19 languages. Subscribe to our e-newsletter.
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