Veterans Entrepreneurship Boot Camp Program starts Saturday
UTC is partnering with Oklahoma State’s School of Entrepreneurship in the delivery and development of the Veterans Entrepreneurship Boot Camp Program, a series of training modules designed by UTC and OSU faculty and successful entrepreneurs to provide participating veterans with the nuts and bolts of small business startup and leadership.
The VEP Program is offered entirely free to qualified, disabled veterans who have been accepted into the program. This year, the program will engage 16 veteran delegates in its eight-day boot camp and 10-month mentoring program.
The opening ceremony of the VEP boot camp will feature several guests speakers and will be held at the Sheraton Read House on Saturday, July 21, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Additional highlights of the boot camp include:
—July 22-23: Dr. Mike Morris, director of OSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship, will teach several sessions in the first few days of the boot camp. Morris will be teaching sessions at UTC, all in Fletcher Hall Room 212, on July 22 from 10:15-noon (How Entrepreneurs Think) and on July 23 from 10:15-noon (Further Understanding Your Customers) and 1-2:45 p.m. (Leveraging Resources, Mitigating Risk and Guerrilla Action).
—July 26: VEP delegates will visit and engage in a session at the Tennessee Small Business Development Center, 100 Cherokee Blvd., Suite 202, from 1-2:45 p.m. They will tour the facility and hear from several small business owners in the building, including RMJ Tactical, which produces specialized tomahawks for military tactical teams.
—July 27: Trident Leadership session at Chickamauga Battlefield, 8:15 a.m.-2:45 p.m.
—July 28: Participants will pitch their business ideas in sessions at CO.LAB (The Company Lab), 55 E. Main St., from 8:15-10 a.m. and receive feedback on their pitches from 10:15 a.m.-noon.
—July 29: Graduation ceremony at Renaissance Commons, River Room, Bluff View Art District will feature B. B. Bell, general in the U.S. Army (retired), as well as a video retrospective of the week, at 6:30 p.m.
Donors include the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, The Company Lab, Decosimo, Disabled American Veterans, Probasco Chair of Free Enterprise at UTC, The Raines Grou, Serodino Inc., Southern Towing Company and U.S. Xpress Enterprises
Sponsors include Sticky Fingers, Taziki’s, Taco Mamacita, Food Works, The Terminal Brewhouse, GollyWhoppers, Chattanooga Coca-Cola Bottling Co. and the Sheraton Read House.
