The Spears School of Business hosted the first Veterans with Disabilities Entrepreneurship Program at OSU this past week.
There were about 30 veterans from all over the country who attended the program’s workshops and were given rooms at the Atherton Hotel during their stay.
“This is a program to empower veterans to not only make the transition from military service to civilian life but also to give them a path,” said Michael Morris, head of the entrepreneurship department at OSU. Entrepreneurship is an incredibly empowering way for veterans to create their own companies, their own jobs and ultimately their own wealth, said Morris.
Their days started at 8:30 a.m. and ended around 9:30 p.m.. Topics covered ranged from developing a business model and financing their ventures to technology issues and anything related to creating a successful business, Morris said.
Their eight-day stay at OSU was actually the second phase of the program. The second phase, which consisted of the in residence program at Oklahoma State University lasted from Jan. 30 - Feb. 6.
The first phase was an Internet-based interactive course, where participants were given reading material, plans and discussed other issues, said Todd Giager, a Navy veteran attending the program.
The veterans were not all business while they were there. They also attend several social events including dinner with Condoleezza Rice and a trip to Oklahoma City to Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill, where Turnpike Troubadours sang for them, Giager said.
ROTC was asked to borrow a few good men to help transport the veterans from the airports, provide a color guard for both opening and closing ceremonies and several other tasks.
For many of the cadets this was an opportunity to get advice from the veterans, Cadet Simon Barnett said.
The speakers at the ceremony were not only motivational for the veterans but also inspirational for the cadets, said Cadet Matthew Stevenson, a member of the color guard.
After the veterans leave Stillwater they have a mentorship for ten months, which allows the veterans to call on, meet with, and get advice from entrepreneurship experts at OSU, according to the program’s page on the OSU Entrepreneurship Web site.
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