������ý����

For the fourth year, ������ý����’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies will offer its Veterans Entrepreneurship Training (VET) program, with the support of the New Jersey Bankers Charitable Foundation, Inc. and The Uncommon Individual Foundation.

The VET program is a free, nine-week program that will have veterans develop a business plan to explore a venture idea or guide an existing business. Classes are held in the evening on ������ý����’s Lawrenceville campus and taught by professors from ������ý����’s College of Business Administration.

The classroom portion is run in two phases. In Phase I, veterans will develop their business concept. Dr. Ronald Cook, director of ������ý����’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, notes that this concept must be finalized before moving onto Phase II, the full business plan development. “Only veterans whose business concept is approved can move into Phase II, as the pace of the program requires a solid concept to build a business plan around,” he says.

Cook says the 2017 cohort of veteran students will benefit from some constructive changes to the program. Changes include hands-on worksheets provided to students at the end of each class to allow them to get a jump start on their assignments. The successful mentor concept, in which the veterans establish a relationship with a mentor that lasts for one year after the program ends.

The program also includes a panel of various subject-matter experts who will be available to all the veterans in the program. "The participants in the program will be able to consult with all of these experts, not just their individually assigned mentor, for whatever assistance or advice they may need for their individual business during the classroom part of the program,” Cook says.

The support of The Uncommon Individual Foundation will greatly enhance the post-classroom program. "The Foundation will offer their full resources to help the veterans pursue their ventures once they have graduated from the classroom portion of the program, by providing incubator space, student help and networking for a full year,” Cook says.

Upon completion of the classroom portion, veterans will receive one year of mentoring as they pursue their venture dreams.

“As we move into our fourth year of offering this program," Cook says, "we are very fortunate to have the support of these two foundations who share our vision of helping the veterans pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.”

Interested applicants can apply online. For more information or questions about the program email Mariann Ubry at  mubry@rider.edu.

������ý���� New Jersey Bankers Charitable Foundation
The New Jersey Bankers Charitable Foundation was established in 2005 to honor fallen or permanently disabled military members in the post-9/11 Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts by providing scholarships to their eligible dependents. Either the dependent or the service member must have a connection to New Jersey. The Foundation is completely funded by New Jersey banks and governed by industry trustees.

������ý���� The Uncommon Individual Foundation
The Uncommon Individual Foundation was founded 1986 by Dr. Richard Caruso to encourage individuals to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams. The mission of The Uncommon Individual Foundation’s (UIF) Entrepreneur Mentoring Program is to select, mentor, and accelerate the best high-impact entrepreneurs in Philadelphia and the surrounding region, in order to foster corporate expansion, facilitate job creation, and catalyze local economic growth.