News 8 wtnh.com – One marine from Connecticut will be attending Tuesday night’s ‘State of the Union’ in person. After serving for more than a decade, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Zacchea is making veterans’ issues his focus.
Veterans
Brookfield Veteran, Purple Heart Recipient, to Attend State of the Union
Stamford Advocate – Mike Zacchea has another commendation to add to his Purple Heart and two Bronze stars — an invitation to the State of the Union.
The retired Marine lieutenant colonel from Brookfield will be the guest of U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, Tuesday, when President Barack Obama addresses Congress.
Combat-wounded Brookfield Veteran to Attend State of the Union
Stamford Daily Voice – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) announced Thursday that Michael J. Zacchea of Brookfield will be his guest for the President’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 12.
Veteran-owned Connecticut Businesses Express Disconnect Between Job Opportunities for Veterans, Hiring
The Day of New London – Stephen Gifford, an Army veteran who is the recent owner of Hartford Wire Works, explained it this way: At the executive-level, corporations will make commitments to hire veterans, but those aren’t the same people who are reviewing resumes.
Meriden Veteran Goes from Military Service to Entrepreneurship
Record-Journal- When Gulaid and Davina Ismail’s second child Issaq was born three years ago, the child suffered from acid reflux so badly he threw up often. The couple was going through plenty of infant clothes.
“We were constantly changing clothes and throwing them out when they get stained,” Davina said. “So we asked ourselves ‘why don’t we start making clothes ourselves?'”
Gulaid Ismail, a U.S. Marine who served seven months in Fallujah, Iraq, was able to get some assistance from Veterans Administration programs and the couple soon started Dribblebabies, a baby and toddler web-based store for parents five years after his honorable discharge.
How Veterans Can Sign Up for Entrepreneurial Training Through College Initiatives
New York Post- Last year, Army Reserves veteran Dr. Stephannie L. Addo-Zuniga was knee-deep in the trenches on a daily basis from 8 a.m. to midnight, relying on her tenacity and perseverance to pull her through.
This wasn’t army bootcamp, but an intense learning initiative offered through Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities at the University of Connecticut.
‘Bootcamp’ Helps Meriden Veteran to Put His Life Back Together
Record-Journal- Since returning from a two-year tour of duty in Iraq a decade ago, Rafael Castro has been trying to piece his life back together. Not long after his return, Castro, of Meriden, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. In April, he was laid off from his job at a car dealership.
Video Interview: UConn EBV’s Michael Zacchea
WHPX-TV – Michael Zacchea ’12 MBA, discusses UConn’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities in an interview with Shawn Murphy on ‘For The Record.’ Airing July 14.
5 Resources for Turning Veterans into Entrepreneurs
Milwaukee Community Journal – Is the solution to joblessness among veterans, entrepreneurship? Career experts think so. According to the Small Business Administration, military veterans are almost twice as likely as non-veterans to start their own business, but their unemployment rate stands at 6.7 percent as of February, and has been consistently higher than the national average.
A Fix for Jobless Vets? Make Them Entrepreneurs
CNBC – For a variety of reasons, the solution to joblessness among veterans may be to prod more of them toward entrepreneurship. “This gap is a nut that’s hard to crack, but I actually truly believe that veteran-owned businesses are going to be the thing that heals our country in the next 15 years,” said Michael Zacchea, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and director of the University of Connecticut’s Entrepreneurial Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities.