Julie Garcia , Corpus Christi Caller-Times Catching up on everything Rayshan Coleman missed was one of the hardest parts of transitioning from military to civilian life.
"There's a lot we don't know about after having been in the military for so long," Coleman said. "I have an idea and I'm getting more here. What I'm learning here will help me narrow down what I want to do."
Still active in the Navy, Coleman spent the day at "Boots to Business Reboot," a series of seminars offered to veterans at the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi Coastal Bend Business Innovation Center.
The sessions focus on entrepreneurship and will continue Nov. 3 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. They cover a range of topics, including picking the correct legal entity for your business, financing a business venture and introduction to business planning.
Veteran's Small Business Week started Monday with an open house followed by a panel of advisers for financial assistance for veterans on Tuesday. This is the first event the Innovation Center has developed under its new partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, said Russell Franques, associate director of client relations.
TAMUCC and the SBA created a Strategic Alliance Memorandum to expand small business development for veterans in early September.
"Research shows that a common character point to be a successful entrepreneur is being a veteran," Franques said. "Service suggests they will be successful. They have a mission, a plan, and they know how to execute it and go around obstacles. It's the same thing we do in business."
Agility, creativity and a "get the job done" attitude all play in entrepreneurship, he said.
"I have sat in a lot of these, and this has been the most interactive group I've seen. It's because of their training," Franques said.
Scott Kruse, an accounting professor at TAMUCC, said he wanted to volunteer his time with the sessions because finance is a bigger part of life than people realize.
"My father was a Marine for 21 years," Kruse said. "The transition can be difficult once you decide to get out, but veterans are the hardest working people I know. If they need extra knowledge to be successful, I want to be here for them."
Registration is still open for the second day of "Boots to Business" for area veterans. The cost is free. Go to cbbic.tamucc.edu/veteransweek/index.cfm for more details. There are plans to offer the educational series once a semester.
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