In fiscal year 2023, the Small Business Administration (SBA) provided over $1.1 billion in support to more than 2,800 veteran-owned small businesses, marking a continued trend of growth for entrepreneurs in the military community. This represents an increase of approximately 40% in funding and 33% in total loan numbers since 2020. The news was announced by SBA officials on Monday, who stated that the growth is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit of American heroes and the SBA’s commitment to simplifying access, reducing red tape, and expanding outreach to meet entrepreneurs’ needs.

The country has around 1.9 million veteran-owned small businesses that employ about 5.5 million Americans, a small but significant portion of the country’s workforce. President Joe Biden signed an executive order in June directing the SBA to develop more tools to assist would-be veteran entrepreneurs and military spouses wanting to start their own businesses. As part of agency outreach efforts around Veterans Day, SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman attended the opening ceremony of one new Veteran Business Outreach Center (VBOC) in Long Beach, California earlier this month, with another center set to open in Nevada by the end of the month.

The SBA has recently launched a new SBA Veteran Business Certification program to connect service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses with more federal contracting opportunities and expanded existing entrepreneurship training programs with a focus on women veterans and disabled veterans. More information on support services for veteran businesses is available on the SBA website.