Veterans

‘We’re Starting to Have Our Voices Heard’

Posted on by Claire Hall

Military Flag

Senator Blumenthal Attends UConn Roundtable on Veteran Employment; Seeks Ideas, Concerns, Suggestions

Their livelihoods couldn’t be more diverse—from farming to aerospace to cleaning services—but their message was the same: help us and help our fellow veterans find, keep and create great jobs.

That was the message that some 70 people delivered to U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) during a roundtable discussion Thursday, Jan. 7. Hosted by UConn’s School of Business, the focus of the event was how Congress can further support veteran hiring and veteran-owned businesses.Continue Reading

Meriden Veteran Goes from Military Service to Entrepreneurship

Posted on by Melissa Ferrigno

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.

Honoring Veterans 365 Days a Year

Posted on by Claire Hall
Angel Charles, Connecticut National Guard and 2015 EBV Participant
Angel Charles, Connecticut National Guard and 2015 EBV Participant (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)

 

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

Posted on by Melissa Ferrigno

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.

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‘Top Notch’

Posted on by Claire Hall
UConn EBV Class of 2015
EBV Class of 2015 (Lisa Ducharme)

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

Til Duty is Done

Posted on by Claire Hall

U.S. Army Veterans

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