Boots to Business Instructors of the Year Winners Ceremony

I just want to say hello to everyone. My name is Larry Stubblefield. I am the associate administrator in SBA's Office of Veterans Business Development. I want to welcome all of you to Today's ceremony celebrating SBA's 2022 Boots to Business Instructors of the Year. Each year, representatives from the SBA and its resource partners are honored for their excellence in teaching Boots to Business. Boots Boots to Business is the entrepreneurial track of the Department of Defense's Transition Assistance Program and since its inception in 2013, the Boots to Business program has served over 150,000 transitioning service members, veterans and military spouses. At this time I would like to introduce Administrator Guzman. Isabella Kasilas Guzman were sworn in as the 27th Administrator of the US Spa Business Administration on March 17, 2021. She serves as the voice for America's 32 and a half million small businesses and innovative startups in President Biden's Cabinet. Administrator Guzman grew up in a small business family and has been an entrepreneur herself. She has spent her entire career advising entrepreneurs, launching ventures, helping small businesses navigate government, and creating policies and programs to help advance entrepreneurship innovation. She served as a Director of the California Office of the Small Business Advocate where she helped small businesses and innovative startups in the world's fifth largest economy start, expand and grow. She advocated fiercely for financial relief for small businesses and focused on expanding assistance to entrepreneurs and underserved communities. In addition, she served as the Economic Recovery Support Function Coordinator for the state where she spearheaded the small business recovery effort during the COVID 19 pandemic. She is no stranger to SBA. During the Obama administration she served as the SBA Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Administrator. Administrator Guzman is utilizing her vast experience and strong leadership to guide SBA during these challenging times and and she continues, she continues to fight to help veteran and military spouse owned small businesses start, grow and recover. It gives me great pleasure to introduce Administrator Guzman.

I appreciate that warm welcome Larry and thank you for your strong leadership of SBA's Office of Veterans Business. It is great to join today's celebration of SBA Boots to Business Instructors of the Year. To all of our honorees, know that the work you do supporting entrepreneurs powers one of our nation's greatest economic engines. Veteran owned businesses which today account for more than one in every 20 U.S. employer businesses contribute close to $1 trillion to the U.S. economy every year and support nearly 4 million jobs. And you have all demonstrated a passion and commitment to this work, going above and beyond to change lives and transform communities over the past year, as our nation has emerged from the COVID pandemic, your support was needed more than ever. And that demand continues. Right now, we're experiencing the fastest economic recovery in four decades and the strongest job creation in US History. And America's entrepreneurs are starting businesses at record rates with 5.4 million new business applications in 2021 alone. This incredible recovery is no accident. It's a credit to the work you continue to do to give our nation's veteran entrepreneurs the training and resources they need to start a business, grow and survive and thrive during the pandemic and beyond. SBA's boots to business program has trained and graduated more than 156,000 entrepreneurs since 2013. And I'm committed to continuing to support this program and open more doors of opportunity for America's transitioning service members, veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, and military spouses, helping them exercise their talents and realize their dreams through every stage of their entrepreneurial journey. America's veteran business owners have continually demonstrated the true essence of our country's entrepreneurial spirit, especially during the darkest days of the COVID pandemic, when so many faced adversities and responded with grit, agility, resilience, and their legendary spirit of service. In the Biden Harris administration, we recognize that if our nation is to prosper and compete globally, we must support all great ideas across our nation. That includes giving our veterans the fair shot they need to achieve their dreams of entrepreneurship. This is what President Biden's vision of building a better America is all about. Investing in our people and our nation. And that means our small businesses. The work you all are doing through the Boots to Business program is a key part of that. I could not be prouder to support and recognize you all today for your tremendous impact and and for the dedication and excellence you have demonstrated in your service to America's veteran entrepreneurs. You all represent the best of our SBA team across our district offices and our resource partner networks. Thank you for all that you do. Congratulations on today's well earned recognition.

Thank you, Administrator Guzman, for those wonderful words and for your unwavering support. Before I announce the recipients of this year's award, there's two things that I would like to do. First of all, I would like to thank those of you who nominated candidates. This year. We had 26 very strong candidates, so really appreciate the work that went into those nominations. And I also would like to take just a moment to show all of you what our recipients will receive. This is plaque, if you will, or trophy, I guess Pretty heavy little thing here, but really nice. It's, you know, ingrained. And it just lists the 2022 boots to business Instructor of the Year, the recipient's name and the the office that they're from. And it just is Boots to business from the U.S. small Business Administration. So we'll get those out to all of our awardees here. And with that, let me announce the 2022 Boots to Business Instructors of the Year. First, Starting with the SBA from the Minnesota District Office, Mr. Mike Jackson, representing our veteran business outreach centers, Mr. Tim Craig from the Veterans Education Career Transition Resource center in Warner Robins, Georgia, for our Women Business Centers, Ms. Mary Helen Aldis from the Women's Business Border center in el Paso, representing SCORE from the SCORE office in Boston is Mr. Rafael Reese. For the Small Business Development Centers, Jason Nitsky from the Great Falls Regional Small Business Development center in Great Falls, Montana. And then representing the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, Todd Bennett is our Instructor of the Year for Overseas and he is located in Seoul, Korea. So congratulations to our six recipients. And at this time, I'm going to turn the floor over to our recipients for their remarks and I will announce each recipient before they speak. So we'll start with Mr. Mike Jackson.

Thank you, sir. And thank you for this award. I'm truly honored to receive it. It is an even greater honor to be placed in such a distinguished ranks with the other honorees who are all colleagues who have made important contributions to veterans and their families. A special thanks go out to my wife and daughters who have stood by me when I was on active duty and then a veteran who struggled with the transition from active duty to the civilian world. They have encouraged me to follow my passion of serving others. And when the opportunity came to do so, they have helped me stay balanced through the ups and downs and meeting the needs of small business owners, especially veterans. Also like to thank the numerous mentors I've had throughout my career who have been a great sounding board and have been there to provide profound insight and advice. And finally, the district office leadership and staff for having the generosity to nominate me who have assisted me in so many ways to ensure that veterans and their spouses receive the training through the Boots to Business reboot courses and the follow on resources to ensure they're successful again. Thank you for this award and recognition.

Mike. Thank you. Thank you so much. So we will now go over to Mr. Tim Craig. Tim, the floor is yours.

Thank you, sir. First, I'd like to praise the Lord, my God for the honor of receiving this award. I thank the SBA leadership. I thank the SBA District offices for nominating me for this award in South Carolina. Thanks Frank. I thank the leadership of my administrative host, Central Georgia Technical College and the Georgia Vector Center, Dr. Ivan Allen, Mr. Jeff Scruggs and Patricia Trish Ross, my former COO. I thank the VBOC team, current and former members Reginald Thompson, Dr. Reyna Kovich, Carlo Lacombe, Jeff Smith and G.T. russell. But most importantly, I want to thank my family. I thank my wife Renee and granddaughter Amber for their untold sacrifices in allowing me the privilege to travel throughout Georgia and South Carolina and continuing to serve the veterans of these states. Service is our highest and greatest calling and I thank you for allowing me the privilege to do what I do. Thank you all for this award. Very appreciative. Go Region four.

Brent Peacock.

Thank you very much.

All right, thank you. Thank you very much for that. We will now hear from Ms. Mary Helen Aldez. Ms. Aldez.

Hello everyone. Good afternoon. I would like to thank the SBA for selecting me as the National Boots to Business Instructor of the Year in the Women's Business center category. It is a huge honor to be recognized for participating every month in training our veteran entrepreneurs and transitioning soldiers through this national initiative since 2014. I would also like to thank Amy Rodriguez from our local SBA El Paso District Office for nominating me for this tremendous national recognition and for always including our center. Our Women Business center is located in El Paso, Texas and has been serving the business community for more than 21 years. Our center is in a beautiful border community and the home of Fort Bliss, the second largest military installation in Texas. Fort Bliss has the greatest and the most significant economic impact not just in El Paso but in the entire state of Texas. Our center and operator have always been committed to our veterans, military spouses and transitioning soldiers. That became official when we first signed our the MOU to open and operate our center satellite office on Fort Bliss at the Army Community Services Building in 2007 which continues today. Through the partnership we provide one on one business counseling service to active duty military spouses and transitioning soldiers through our quarterly training sessions. Let's start your business and how to mobilize your small business. I would like to thank our operator of our Women Business Center, Cindy Ramos Davidson, our CEO of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for her leadership, her vision and her commitment to continue our participation in this program. Thank you as well to all of the veterans, active duty service members and their families that are viewing this recognition Virtual ceremony. We thank you for your service and sacrifice. Thank you again for this prestigious recognition. And congratulations again to everyone being recognized today.

Today.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much. And now we will go to Mr. Rafael Risi.

Oh, hold on. Can you see me now?

We can see you and we can hear you.

Okay, It's Rafael Rice, but I respond to all. So, look, first of all, I want to thank you sincerely. So it is an honor and I appreciate the opportunities and experience of B2B. It's been wonderful, and I look forward to continuing my engagement. Teaching is another form of learning, and it's particularly sweet to have an opportunity to learn so much as I have here in that program. But it's easy to do well when you're surrounded by a good team. And I know that B2B is a collaboration of a lot of people, some of whom I only know by name and some I do not know at all. But I do know Oreste Valera, who I thank for nominating me, but also who makes it so easy to walk in, excuse me, and just spend a few minutes with interesting people talking about realizing their dreams and business realities. I also want to acknowledge my colleagues in Boston Score, who continue to mentor me as I mentor others and whose experience I shamelessly appropriate to bring B2B sessions to life. But the bottom line is this. I look forward to each and every B2B session because I look forward to interactions with the class. The participants are consistently imaginative and level headed, intellectually honest and capable, fun. And when they get really good, challenging. So they may not all start businesses, but one gets a sense they'll all do well. And it's always pleasure to be part of the journey. So thank you all, and thank you to participants and to the program.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Rice, and thank you and congratulations again. Okay, we will now go for the Small Business Development center category to Jason Nitsky. Jason, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Larry.

I'll start by thanking the entire SBA team for creating a mechanism to recognize those of us who do the work of the agency. And congratulations to the five other award recipients. Far too often, the hard work done by economic developers goes under recognized. So I'd like to accomplish two things. First, highlight those who do this work. And second, articulate why I do this work. I'll start by recognizing my wonderful colleagues with the resource partner programs in Montana, and specifically my host, the Great Falls Development Authority. Thank you to Montana Senior U.S. senator John Tester as well for his work on the Veterans of Affairs Committee, Malmstrom Air Force Base here has a meaningful impact on our regional economy and is of vital importance to our country's strategic defense. Thank you as well to Tom White and Dustin Frost for their nomination. It's a pleasure to work with all of you. I do not come to work every day in pursuit of recognition. I come to work every day for two reasons. The first is to help change people's lives by creating opportunities for financial empowerment. I come from a family of entrepreneurs and veterans. My parents are both educators and children of entrepreneurs. Congratulations to my sister Heather, who on Saturday completed her doctoral program thanks in part to her GI Bill after serving in the global war on terror. She's also an SBDC and VBOC client herself. My paternal grandfather's journey started after World War II. His company created generational wealth and supported hundreds of lives. Your legacy serve as a motivator to me. The second reason I do this work is to provide for my daughter. I spent 16 years as a professional journalist, and last Friday on our drive to school, my daughter asked me why I don't work in TV anymore. I told her, so I can spend more time with you. Logan is my true north and my guiding light. So thank you again for everybody giving the opportunity to me to shine a light on those around me.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Jason. And congratulations again. As all of you know, Boots to Business is taught around the world. And so our next recipient out of Seoul, Korea, is Mr. Todd Bennett. Todd, I'm turning it over to you.

Yes.

Hello, everyone. As was mentioned, I'm attending the virtual ceremony all the way from South Korea. It is very late over here, but I'm excited to be a part of this event. Also, I'm humbled to be recognized along with all of these amazing instructors for the outstanding dedication and instruction performed throughout the past year. I'm sure we've all had to struggle with personal and professional challenges throughout the pandemic, but things are looking bright as we move forward. I've really enjoyed facilitating these workshops. And even though I'm teaching, as was mentioned by another instructor, I learned something new and valuable every time. From the talented and hardworking students that have gone through Boots to Business, I want to thank the IVMF and especially Kim street, along with Kristin Giroux, for overseeing and supporting all of the B2B Oconus workshops. With the support of these two incredible individuals, I was able to navigate the complexities of international travel and successfully instruct thousands of entrepreneurs over the years. I also want to thank the SBA for hosting this awesome event. Thank you very much. Finally, I want to thank the brave military service members who have gone through Boots to business. Of course, without them, we would not be doing any of this. Thank you all so very much.

Okay, thank you again and congratulations to our award recipients today. Let's give them a. A round of applause. So at this time, I will turn the program over to Mr. Stan Kurtz, who is the director of programs in SBA's Office of Veterans Business Development. Stan.

Thanks, Larry. So one of the things we do here at SBA is not only with this type of ceremony, but we also capture a lot of success stories and videotape those. We use them in conferences, we put them on our websites. So one of the things I'd like to do right now is recognize one of those videos, success story videos. And so the video we're going to show next features chef Scotty Johnson from Georgia. Now, his business is Blessed and Highly Favored Cuisine. So the video features the partnership between Tim Craig, who is the director of Venters Business Outreach center for Georgia, and you heard from Tim earlier. He's one of our winners. So chef Scotty Johnson, in addition to running his business, he also frequently comes in and talks to local boosted business classes, which is tremendous. He has also wrote an autobiography and it's called the See youe Route and run it From Top Soldier to Top Chef, which provides advice on seizing life's opportunities and lessons learned along the way. Scotty also participated in the national cooking competition in Texas and was named the 2019 Georgia Seafood Champion. So I'm sure you'll enjoy this video.

My name is Scotty Johnson. I'm the executive chef owner of Blessed and Highly Flavored Cuisine Private Chef Services, which right here in Warner Robins Middle, Georgia area. I would say, and what we do, we bring fine dining to their homes, different clients, we provide cooking classes. I have clients that I do meal preps every week when I go in and fix up meals in their home, or I prepare it here at my house and deliver it. So I like making healthy dishes for people based on what they want to eat. My private chef services, I got into it when I retired from the military. First October 2015, I made an announcement to everybody that came to the retirement ceremony, including my wife. For the first time that I was going to culinary school. And so my wife's like, culinary school? What about a job? I said, well, you know, a leap of faith. I took a leap of faith. Never cooked in the military. I was artillery guy. So I took the post 9, 11 GI bill and decided to use that to go to culinary school. My business already was up and going. You know, I say about a year into my business, almost a year, my wife, she said, hey, I signed you up for a class. And she say, it's a boost of business. And I was like, boost the business? What is that? You know, I didn't want no class. I don't need this. And so she said, well, you're going. I signed you up for it. So, so I went. And what it did, I realized, you know, that first day, I was like, wow, this is a great class because it helped me build my business. It taught me to find out my demographics, the financial part, the management part. So it taught me those things that will help me grow my business.

My name is Timothy Craig. I am the director of the Veterans Business Outcome Outreach center in Warner Robins, Georgia. The VBOC is a SBA organization whereby we assist veterans who are looking to start, grow, expand, or purchase a business. As such, through the sba, we teach a free two day class called Bootster Business. Boots to Business is introduction entrepreneurship class to assist those transition military veterans who are getting out, those who are currently veterans, National Guard reservists, and their spouses who want to start a business. And so through the Booster business class, we teach eight foundational aspects of how to get a business started and also about how to connect with other SBA resource partners, because there's always an SBA resource partner in our ecosystem that can help you at every step along the way.

Teaming up with Tim Craig helped me out tremendously and the amount of resources that they have, you know, the sba, reach out and let them help you. Because like during the COVID pandemic, we had various obstacles that we had to overcome and face. So I reached out to SBA to give me the economic injury disaster Loan, which helped out my business and kept.

It afloat under the umbrella of the sba. There are a lot of loan options that a veteran can consider for their business. It's not just Eidl, it's not just PPP loan. There are many loan options out there. Again, starting going or expanding your business, there's a funding program available to you in that context.

I think the biggest thing, having great supporters, you know, with SBA, VBoC, with your spouse, friends, family, my parents, the biggest thing and the thing about is that I'm able to reach out and touch whichever one I need at what particular time, and they're always there and each one of them brings a different perspective. Of what I'm looking for answers I'm looking for being able to have hands on with those supporters is the best thing ever.

The military, I believe, is one of the greatest incubators talent and pulling those things to the fore and giving an individual the wherewithal to figure out what they're good at. I tell all my veterans that you're going to use those same traits that the military taught you. You're going to put those same traits in your business. You understand how to pivot, you understand how to develop relationships, you understand how to solve problems as things occur. The military has taught you those things don't negate what they've taught you. Use those in the context of how your business will proceed and go further down the line. If you call the Veteran Business Outreach center first, no matter where you are in the US they can help you to put your business on the right path, make the right decisions and become a profitable, sustainable and successful business in the small business world.

So that was a great example of how those partnerships are formed and continue throughout the entrepreneurship journey. The following congratulatory messages are from former Boots to business graduates and some of the people who nominated some of the winners.

Hi, my name is Matt and I've.

Known Don Jackson for a little over.

A year and a half now and.

In that time had many interactions with him.

He's always positive, polite and encouraging.

Having served himself, he knows what it's like to transition from the military to the private sector. It's not always easy and sometimes can feel a bit lonely. It's personal to me knowing that he's.

Committed to my success. He's been there when I needed a.

Question answered or just for support while navigating the SBA lending process.

I'm grateful for his leadership and see.

Why he was nominated as Boots to Business Instructor of the Year. Thank you Don.

Having served in the Navy for six years, I'd also like to say thank.

You if you're currently serving.

A fellow veteran or family member of.

Those who have served, we can't say it enough. We're grateful for your service.

Hi, my name is Amy Rodriguez from.

The El Paso District Office. I'm the Coordinator for Boots to Business at Fort Bliss, Texas.

I want to congratulate Mary Aldease from.

The Women Business Border Center.

Mary, I just want to appreciate all your hard work you've done for us.

For always being.

Willing to participate, always.

Being very helpful, going above and beyond.

On your presentations, for working with me.

On this venture at Fort Bliss.

I feel that Our participants enjoy your presentation. The module 6 financing your small business.

Very, very, very well handled by you.

And I just want to appreciate your hard work. And again, thank you.

I'm Areesti Varela, the Springfield Branch manager with the Massachusetts District Office, also the Veterans Business Development Officer, which means I run the Boots to Business for Massachusetts. And I've been doing that for about eight years now. Of those eight years, at least five of those. One of our instructors, Rafael Rees, has been my go to person and he is a professor at Hulk International School of Business, and he teaches MBA students and he brings that experience to Boots to Business. He teaches generally two modules with us, Business Planning and the Economics of Small Business. And his. The first thing is he has a fantastic sense of humor. And so some of this material can be dry, but he brings it to life. And he brings also these documents that he uses in his MBA classes that are very helpful. So he has this great demeanor, he has this great presentation style and a wonderful sense of humor, which makes him fantastic instructor. And so I congratulate you, Rafael, on this award. And I appreciate actually also your friendship over these years. So we've put together a great team for Boots to Business, which is a wonderful program for our transitioning veterans and their spouses. And if anything, my advice to veteran entrepreneurs is to work with our resource partners. It's free. That's the best possible thing you can do. Do not go it alone. Work with our resource partners. So again, congratulations, Rafael.

My name is Zach.

I'm the new owner of Action Plumbing and Great Falls. I separated from the Air Force in.

2019, and prior to that I had gone through taps.

And during taps, you know, I learned about the Boots to Business program. And I want to congratulate Jason for winning Boots of Business Instructor of the Year. Hi, my name is Ed belenko. I'm a 25 year veteran of the Army. I took Boots to Business in Daegu, South Korea with Todd Bennett. And I gotta say, Todd Bennett was an extraordinary instructor. I think a lot of times when you're overseas, you take who you can get to fill these jobs. But in this case, the SBA hit a home run and got the perfect guy. Because Todd is not only someone who reads slides, he's an actual entrepreneur, a successful business person himself. And so he was just a phenomenal instructor. And I think the great thing about the Boots to Business class is it tells veterans that they can do it, that they have the skills needed to get in the business world. Because I think a lot of veterans will Think, hey, I may be good on a tank or shooting my rifle or flying a jet or something like that, but I don't know how I can sell fitness equipment or something like that. So what Todd did was show you that the skills that you learned in the military are definitely transferable. For me, I got out of the army and I bought a business. We sell fitness equipment here in Montana. And really, his class opened my eyes to those possibilities. He also introduced me to revenue readiness, a class that the SBA sponsors through the Mississippi State University where you write a business plan. It's very in depth compared to the boots to business, which is just an overview, and I thought that was excellent, too. The nice thing about Todd as well, he goes above and beyond. So long after my boots to business class, he checked in on me, asked me what I was thinking about, gave me feedback, and that was very valuable as well. So I want to say thank you to him for being such an excellent instructor and thanks for the SBA for finding an instructor like Todd over in Korea. Well, we'd like to thank those business owners and the nominators for taking time out to provide those congratulatory messages. I will now turn it back over to Mr. Larry Stubblefield, the associate administrator for the Office of Veterans Business Development. Larry?

Okay, thank you, Stan. So we're gonna conclude today's program. But before we do, let me just say once again to our awardees today, a huge congratulations to all of you. I also want to thank a few other people as well. So I'll start first with you, Stanley, in your role in the. As the program's director and the role you play in B2B. I'd also like to thank Taylor and Alex in our marketing and outreach office, our entire B2B boosted business management team. A special thanks on that team to Laura Resitar. I would certainly be remiss if I. If I failed not to recognize Ray Milano, who's the program director for our veteran business outreach Centers and our 22 veteran business outreach centers around the country, who have responsibility, if you will, for the B2B program. And I also want to thank all of you out there who have instructional or operational responsibilities for the program. And a special thanks to our veteran business development officers located in our 68 district offices. Boost the Business is truly an agency program and it's a team effort and we could not successfully run the program without all of you. So huge thanks to all of you. And with that, this concludes today's ceremony, and we look forward to seeing you at next year's boots to Business Instructors of the Year ceremony for next year. Take care, everybody, and thanks for being here today.