Senator John Kerry today was honored by the American Legion for his work on behalf of veteran small business owners.
"I'm honored to be recognized by the American Legion, a tireless advocate for veterans for nearly a century. I'm proud to stand with the citizen soldiers who demonstrate every single day that service doesn't end with a tour of duty or after a battle," said Senator Kerry. "Together, we can work to improve entrepreneurial development programs for veterans seeking to start or expand a business. Together we can make sure veterans receive the quality health care they're entitled to. Together we can make sure the federal government keeps America's commitment to the men and women in uniform who so bravely served our country."
Kerry has long been an advocate of providing opportunity and outreach to our returning veterans. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, he has made helping veteran and reservist entrepreneurs one of his top priorities.
Kerry believes the government can and must do more to ensure that veterans will have economic opportunities waiting for them at home. He has created Military Economic Injury Disaster Loans and has proposed a Small Business Military Reservist Tax Credit and the Military Family Bill of Rights legislation. He has pledged to continue to push for legislation to create grant funding to assist small businesses during an employee's active duty assignment.
At a reception in Washington, D.C. today, two new initiatives between the Northeast Veterans Business Center (NEVBC) in Boston and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) were also announced. The initiatives will provide coaching and training to veterans who are recovering at VA facilities in Bedford and D.C. Bernie Cournoyer, LRC, the managing director of the Veterans Construction Team at Edith Nourse Rogers Veterans Hospital in Bedford, Mass. who started the first-in-the-nation Veterans Construction Team there in 1992 as part of the Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) Program will announce a new agreement with the NEVBC. The NEVBC will provide entrepreneurship training and help in placing veterans with service-disabled veteran owned businesses. In Bedford, 250 veterans participate in the CWT program each day, putting $3 million a year into veterans' hands -- 90 percent of whom were homeless when they started the program. The NEVBC will also partner with Walter Reed Military Hospital to provide business training and development to recovering injured service members.
"I'm honored to be recognized by the American Legion, a tireless advocate for veterans for nearly a century. I'm proud to stand with the citizen soldiers who demonstrate every single day that service doesn't end with a tour of duty or after a battle," said Senator Kerry. "Together, we can work to improve entrepreneurial development programs for veterans seeking to start or expand a business. Together we can make sure veterans receive the quality health care they're entitled to. Together we can make sure the federal government keeps America's commitment to the men and women in uniform who so bravely served our country."
Kerry has long been an advocate of providing opportunity and outreach to our returning veterans. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, he has made helping veteran and reservist entrepreneurs one of his top priorities.
Kerry believes the government can and must do more to ensure that veterans will have economic opportunities waiting for them at home. He has created Military Economic Injury Disaster Loans and has proposed a Small Business Military Reservist Tax Credit and the Military Family Bill of Rights legislation. He has pledged to continue to push for legislation to create grant funding to assist small businesses during an employee's active duty assignment.
At a reception in Washington, D.C. today, two new initiatives between the Northeast Veterans Business Center (NEVBC) in Boston and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) were also announced. The initiatives will provide coaching and training to veterans who are recovering at VA facilities in Bedford and D.C. Bernie Cournoyer, LRC, the managing director of the Veterans Construction Team at Edith Nourse Rogers Veterans Hospital in Bedford, Mass. who started the first-in-the-nation Veterans Construction Team there in 1992 as part of the Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) Program will announce a new agreement with the NEVBC. The NEVBC will provide entrepreneurship training and help in placing veterans with service-disabled veteran owned businesses. In Bedford, 250 veterans participate in the CWT program each day, putting $3 million a year into veterans' hands -- 90 percent of whom were homeless when they started the program. The NEVBC will also partner with Walter Reed Military Hospital to provide business training and development to recovering injured service members.