退伍军人和家庭成员毕业于凤凰彩票小企业发展中心的创业项目

位于凤凰彩票维尔的凤凰彩票小企业发展中心（设在佩利西比州立社区学院）的第二批学员参加了“激励退伍军人创业创业培训资源”（STRIVE）项目，该项目旨在帮助退伍军人及其家人成功地建立和发展企业。

Pellissippi State is one of 10 higher-education institutions across the country selected to participate in STRIVE, which is administered by Syracuse University’s D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families. 这个为期八周的免费项目旨在培养农村老兵创业精神。

“When you look at entrepreneurship and small business, that’s the backbone of America’s economy – of Main Street America – and more people are employed in small businesses than in the big companies combined,” said Gregg Bostick, director of the Tennessee 小企业发展中心 in Knoxville. “So, it’s very important that we foster that.”

博斯蒂克说，退伍军人把他们在军队服役时掌握的许多技能带到了私营部门，在发展他们的企业和地方经济方面非常成功。

The annual STRIVE program, sponsored in part by the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship, culminates with a graduation ceremony at which participants discuss the direction they’ll take with their businesses. 本月早些时候举行的2025年秋季毕业生典礼为15名毕业生举行了庆祝活动。

他们的演讲讨论范围从餐馆和木工到家庭组织和零售。

JFirst Properties公司总裁哈罗德·威尔逊（Harold Wilson）负责一个名为“记住每个人都重要”（remember Everyone Matters）的项目，他希望为退伍军人和曾经入狱的人提供与交通、培训和机会相关的无障碍住房。

他求助于STRIVE项目，帮助他制定商业计划并执行。

“It’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” he said.

Through presentations from panelists with expertise on a variety of topics, and networking opportunities, STRIVE helped the graduates understand that “you don’t know what you don’t know,” Wilson said.

2025年秋季毕业班还包括派利西比大学负责对外事务的副校长帕蒂·韦弗（Patty Weaver），她和哥哥一起参加了这个项目。 Weaver’s father and her husband both served in the military.

"The panels, the folks that contribute their time to talk about financing and marketing, and AI and your business – it was just fantastic,” Weaver said. “If you’re a veteran out there, or a family member of a veteran, I highly recommend that you take this program.”