Tech Community SCOREs with Vet Entrepreneurs

Today, First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden launched the Joining Forces Initiative to tap into our shared desire to support our service members and their families. To celebrate the moment, organizations from across the country have announced 26 new commitments, including a coalition led by SCORE to inaugurate the “Veterans Fast Launch” initiative.

The premise is simple—with the right support tools, including mentorship, scholarships, and a package of free software resources, we can improve the success rate of veterans’ and their families’ ability to succeed as small business owners. Coalition partners contributing to the resource base include the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, AVG, Cisco, Constant Contact, docstoc.com, HP, Intacct.com, Microsoft, Salesforce.com, and Squareup.com.

The Walmart Foundation will also provide military veterans and their families with scholarships to attend the SCORE “Simple Steps for Starting Your Business” series through 360 chapters across the Nation.

All told, the Fast Launch team will help would-be entrepreneurs understand market demand, tech planning, website development, and innovative techniques to harness the power of technology in boosting financial performance. SCORE and its partners will assist 16,000 military veterans and their families and help launch 3,000 new businesses during the first year of the program.

Please join me in celebrating this important endeavor. It is yet another example of how the tech community is organizing to expand the number of high growth entrepreneurs through the President’s “Startup America” initiative and its private sector partner, Startup America Partnership. We welcome your feedback on how to support our Nation’s entrepreneurs.

Aneesh Chopra is U.S. Chief Technology Officer