Written Testimony of Barb Carson, Acting Associate Administrator, SBA Office of Veterans Business Development, for the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs (December 22, 2015)

Summary

Written testimony of Barb Carson, Acting Associate Administrator of the SBA Office of Veterans Business Development (OVBD), submitted December 22, 2015 to the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs on empowering veteran entrepreneurship through transition assistance. Addressed to Chairman Isakson and Ranking Member Blumenthal, it describes the SBA's role in the Department of Defense Transition Assistance Program (TAP) and its Boots to Business (B2B) entrepreneurship track, piloted in summer 2012 and launched across U.S. installations on January 1, 2013. It cites data that veterans are at least 45 percent more likely to be self-employed and that B2B has trained over 33,000 servicemembers and spouses. It closes with proposals including a pilot allowing use of the GI Bill as seed capital and modernizing SBA information technology.

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“Written Testimony of Barb Carson, Acting Associate Administrator, SBA Office of Veterans Business Development, for the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs (December 22, 2015).” Original at veterans.senate.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings on 2026-06-25, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/written-testimony-of-barb-carson-acting-associate-administrator-sba-of-302ba3d4d1/, SHA-256 6e4d36699d31c336d106aae0cd8849a7362c91f8d2cd188928d2083d9ec289c7.

Full text

U.S. Small Business Administration
Washington, D.C. 20416

Written Testimony of
Barb Carson
Acting Associate Administrator
Office of Veterans Business Development (OVBD)
U.S. Small Business Administration

For the
U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs
Empowering Veteran Entrepreneurship through
Transition Assistance
Submitted, December 22, 2015

Chairman Isakson, Ranking Member Blumenthal, and distinguished members of the Committee, thank
you for the opportunity to submit written testimony on the U.S. Small Business Administration’s
(SBA) continuing efforts to empower veteran entrepreneurship and small business ownership through
the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Transition Assistance Program (TAP).

The mission of Office of Veterans Business Development (OVBD) is to empower Veteran
entrepreneurship by formulating, implementing, administering, and promoting policies and programs
to equip veteran, servicemember (active duty, National Guard, Reserve), and military spouse owned
small businesses with counseling, training and education, access to capital, and contracting
opportunities. Our programs and policies that target our nation’s heroes and job creators are well
supported by the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and we are grateful for
the opportunity to share our successes with this committee. We look forward to receiving your input
and earning your support and confidence.

As small business owners, veterans continue to serve our country by creating critical employment
opportunities and driving economic growth. They possess the skills, discipline, and leadership to
start and operate successful businesses in their communities. In fact, veterans over-index in
entrepreneurship and are at least 45 percent more likely than those with no active-duty military
experience to be self-employed.1 Nearly one in ten small businesses are veteran-owned. These

1
“Factors Affecting Entrepreneurship Among Veterans,” Office of Advocacy, U.S. Small Business Administration, March
2011.
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U.S. Small Business Administration
Washington, D.C. 20416

businesses generate over $1.1 trillion in receipts annually and employ over 5 million Americans.2

Remarkably, the proportion of participation of veterans in business ownership was persistent from the
2007 to the 2012 Census Survey of Small Business Ownership while, during the same period, the
overall number of veteran owned small businesses increased at a faster rate than non-veteran owned
small businesses. We also note that between 2007 and 2012 the number of women veteran-owned
firms increased from 97,114 to 383,30234. All of this data indicates strong entrepreneurial activity
among the Post-9/11era of veterans. The inclusion and continued support of the entrepreneurship track
in TAP – known as Boots to Business (B2B), ensures we empower this next greatest generation of
veteran small business owners.

TAP PROGRESS

In 2012, in collaboration with the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs (VA), Labor (DOL),
Education, and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), SBA began participating in the redesign
of TAP through the interagency governance structure created subsequent to the Veterans Opportunity
to Work (VOW) to Hire Heroes Act of 2011. Our goal was to formalize and expand our support to
transitioning servicemembers, which we have had provided over the years at the local level on a much
smaller scale.

We piloted the (B2B) entrepreneurship track in summer of 2012 and launched the program across U.S.
installations on January 1, 2013. We received our first appropriation to support the program in
January of 2014, at which time we began building infrastructure to support program operations,
outcomes evaluation, and outreach. Notably, in 2014 we expanded the program to include to offer the
program to servicemembers and spouses transitioning overseas – where it has been exceptionally well
received. To date, B2B has trained over 33,000 servicemembers and spouses, and it is offered as part
of TAP on over 180 military installations worldwide.

Working through the interagency governance of TAP, we are extending Boots to Business to all active

2
“Survey of Business Owners – Veteran-Owned Firms, 2012” U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, November
2015
3
Ibid.

2
U.S. Small Business Administration
Washington, D.C. 20416

duty Servicemembers and spouses through the Military Life Cycle (MLC) transition preparation
model. We are specifically targeting military spouses to ensure they are afforded every opportunity to
access entrepreneurship training. While the Administration has made significant progress on reducing
the unemployment rate for veterans, the unemployment rate is still estimated to be 25% for military
spouses, and many more military spouses are underemployed. Surveys show this population is highly
interested in self-employment and entrepreneurship as a means of improving their economic situation
and creating a transportable career to facilitate their families continuing military service.

In addition to our efforts to support MLC and with support and active participation from private
sector, non-profit and SBA resource partners, we have extended the program to veterans of any era
and their families, which we call B2B: Reboot. SBA’s innovative private partnership framework
enables our effectiveness - and more importantly - our efficiency.

B2B is critically enabled by SBA’s partners. Our network of 15 Veterans Business Outreach Centers
(VBOCs) is the cornerstone of our delivery model. VBOCs are statutorily directed to participate in
transition assistance and serve as B2B instructors and follow-on providers and integrators of business
assistance. They also maintain expertise to refer veterans to other federal and local service providers.
In many cases, VBOCs are extensions of SBA’s district offices and assist SBA employees assigned as
Veteran Business Development Officers (VBDOs).

Our 15 VBOCs extend their services nationwide by collaborating extensively within SBA’s network
of resource partners which include Small Business Development Centers, Women’s Business Centers,
and SCORE. Our partnership model extends to other veteran services centers of excellence, such as
the Institute of Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (IVMF). IVMF is a grantee of
OVBD that provides curriculum development, overseas B2B instruction, program outcomes
assessment assistance, and wholly offers as part of B2B an eight-week follow-on entrepreneurship
education course for free to all who complete the two day introductory TAP course.

TAP OUTCOMES

SBA tracks and reports on several performance metrics through the TAP governance structure as part
of the overall interagency TAP evaluation strategy. These metrics include the participation numbers

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U.S. Small Business Administration
Washington, D.C. 20416

and trends in the entrepreneurship track, the graduation rate from the follow-on eight-week course
offered by IVMF and for the first time in 2016, we will report the number of business formed by B2B
participants. This will be reported after the completion and analysis of a B2B specific outcome
assessment survey. The survey will be conducted from a sample of the population of B2B participants
since the program launch in January of 2014.

Multiple projects were completed over the past two years to enable this assessment including putting
in place SBA’s first veterans specific system of record to cover the required data collection and
developing and clearing the survey instrument via Paperwork Reduction Act and Privacy Act
procedures. This survey will focus on B2B participant’s business formation activity and on their
intent to form businesses in the future. SBA seeks to understand the gestation period from intent to
form a business to action for the transitioning servicemember, as well as any patterns in types of
businesses formed and markets and industries pursued. SBA also seeks to understand the degree to
which B2B contributed to the business formation decision and ultimately its success, as well as what
other SBA or partner resources are utilized over time.

Challenges remain with data sharing between SBA partners and other federal agencies, and the
longitudinal tracking required to measure outcomes in the entrepreneurship domain, but this first
outcomes survey will establish a baseline, contribute to our knowledge base, and guide future program
refinements.

It is important to realize that successful outcomes and performance evaluation for B2B should not
overly emphasize business formation and any associated individual and macro-economic benefits.
The most important outcome of B2B is its contribution to the successful transition of servicemembers
and their families to civilian life. The most heavily emphasized learning objective of the course is
enabling participating servicemembers and spouses to understand the opportunities and the challenges
of business ownership as a post-service vocation. B2B often illuminates reasons why a
servicemember or spouse should seek employment as a more suitable alternative to a near or long term
pursuit of business ownership.

SUCCESS STORIES

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U.S. Small Business Administration
Washington, D.C. 20416

The B2B partnership produces success stories like Mr. Timothy Page. After serving 27 years on
active duty in the U.S. Army, Tim attended B2B at Ft. Meade, MD as the first step of his transition
mission to pursue small business ownership. His idea was to create eco-friendly car washes he calls
“auto spas”. Through the facilitation of Mr. Mark Williams in SBA’s Baltimore district office, Tim
was introduced to Ms. Melissa Dent, a counselor at Maryland’s Small Business Development Center,
who helped him develop a business plan. In May 2015, Tim competed in a business plan competition
privately funded for B2B graduates where he won first place and $30,000 in seed capital. His first
auto spa will open in Forestville, MD in the spring of 2016. There are many similar stories among the
ever growing legion of B2B graduates.

FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

While Tim’s story is a great example of how our programs and partners integrate to empower veteran
entrepreneurship, it also highlights a gap we must address – access to capital. We can and must do
more to get capital, and in particular start up or “seed” capital into the hands veterans like Tim. One
proposed piece of legislation, The Veterans Entrepreneurial Transition Act of 2015, would pilot the
use of GI Bill funds for business startup. This limited pilot would test giving servicemembers that do
not wish to use the GI Bill for education the choice to instead use the earned benefit as seed capital.
The pilot would be administered by SBA with the assistance of OVBDs Federal Advisory
Committees.

To sustain and grow our efforts, SBA must also strengthen and modernize its information technology
infrastructure to improve our ability to track long-term outcomes of businesses started by veterans.
This may lead to additional data sharing and collaboration internally with our private and non-profit
sector partners, and between federal agencies, such as the Departments of Labor, Defense and Veterans
Affairs, to further synchronize our efforts, connect veterans and military spouses with the resources
they need, and report essential performance outcomes such as business formation, capital acquired and
creation of jobs.

Thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony to your committee that highlights our
mission and support to TAP. Your support of our work and our mission helps to ensure the American
dream of business ownership to those that fought and continue to fight every day to protect it. We
look forward to your input.

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