By Gwen Green (gagreen@ualr.edu)
May 22, 2009
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Arkansas Veterans Web portal is a one-stop information shop for the state's military men and women, active and retired, at home and abroad.
Found at ArkansasVeteran.com, the portal was launched in January. To date, 966 unique visitors have logged on. The site brings together in one place veterans-related resources and news on such topics as business, education, benefits, family, health and housing plus discussion forums, job listings and content syndication.
Governor Beebe's Yellow Ribbon Task Force adopted ArkansasVeteran.com as its home page and is currently using the site to promote the Boots 2 Books Arkansas Veterans Symposium for Higher Education coming up June 24-25 at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock.
The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, developer of the portal, has posted resources and tools tailored to veterans who are small business owners or aspiring entrepreneurs.
Veterans who have an idea for a new business or need some assistance with their existing business can take advantage of free online training programs or request no-cost, confidential, one-on-one professional business counseling. Veterans submit a short online form, and then are paired up with a business consultant from the nearest ASBTDC office. Offices are located in Arkadelphia, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Magnolia and McGehee. Online training options include courses on starting a business, marketing and management and getting back to business following a deployment.
The portal is funded by a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration's Veterans Assistance and Services Program. ASBTDC received the grant in the fall to promote business ownership for veterans and services to small businesses, including those dealing with deployment of key personnel overseas.
The ASBTDC, a partnership of the SBA and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock College of Business, assists new, existing and innovation-based small businesses. Through its statewide network of offices, the ASBTDC provides free consulting and market research services plus affordable training to the business community. Learn more at asbtdc.ualr.edu.
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