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.
Veterans
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.
Flying the ‘Husky Flag’ in Far Away Kosovo
UConn has reason to be proud of everyone associated with the University who has served in the armed forces through the years. This group with UConn connections is currently serving in Kosovo where they proudly display the Husky banner. To them and to all who are currently serving at home and abroad, we say ‘Thanks for your service.’
Honoring Veterans 365 Days a Year

UConn’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans Helps Military Heroes Become Business Moguls
The UConn School of Business has a strong and proud history of serving the educational and career needs of military leaders and veterans, a tradition that dates back to its earliest days.
After WWII, the university offered business classes at Fort Trumbull in New London to serve returning GIs. The creation of a full-time MBA program on the Storrs campus in 1960, another milestone at the School of Business, occurred as a direct result of a contract to expand educational opportunities for members of the Air Force.Continue Reading
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.
‘Top Notch’

UConn Graduates 25 from EBV Program; Veteran Entrepreneurs Poised to Start Own Businesses
After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, retired U.S. Marine Corp. Staff Sergeant Lawrence “LD” Dapo’s assignment was to fly then-Vice President Cheney to an undisclosed, secure location.
“It was all business that day,” Dapo recalled. “I had no time to reflect on the tragedy until afterwards. But that was the day I knew I would marry my wife. She was quite the trooper.”Continue Reading
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.
Til Duty is Done
Retired U.S. Army Captain /UConn Alumnus Building Housing, Haven for Returning Veterans
Every class that graduates from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point adopts a creed that unifies and guides the future officers during their military training.
For U.S. Army Capt. Justin Nash, and the rest of the Class of 2001, that principle was: Til Duty is Done.
That powerful phrase has been a rallying cry for Nash, who several years later led a platoon of professional soldiers and 300 indigent Afghan warriors through a series of harrowing missions near the Pakistani border.Continue Reading
EBV Program Receives Boost from Bank of America
Bank of America to Support Initiative for Veterans
UConn’s Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) has received a $15,000 grant from the Bank of America Foundation.
The grant will support UConn’s program in the School of Business that provides disabled veterans with training in entrepreneurship and small business management, the UConn Foundation, which applied for the grant, announced.Continue Reading