Special Thanks to our Corporate Sponsors:
Special Thanks to our Sponsor and Corporate Donor:
Sponsor: Centenary University is the proud sponsor of Veteran Ventures Program. Under the dual umbrella of the Centenary Institute of
Entrepreneurship (Enactus) and Centenary Veteran Institute, VVP enjoys the support of the
Centenary community.
Beyond the ordinary
This is where our journey begins. Get to know our business and what we do, and how we're committed to quality and great service. Join us as we grow and succeed together. We're glad you're here to be a part of our story.
Our History
In 2009, we were a few retired businessmen who had been recruited by the Director of the Rothman Institute in the business school at Fairleigh Dickinson University to help students solve real business problems. Coincidentally, we were all military Veterans including John Howlett, Alan Levitan and Wayne Henderson. The director was aware of programs at other universities that helped Vets start businesses
when they retired from active duty. He asked us if we were interested and we all said yes. He named the program Veterans Launching Ventures (VLV).
The early programs were very basic, taught by FDU adjunct professors in a classroom on the Madison FDU campus. We attended classes with the students and coached them on their business ideas and plans. We graduated five to eight local area students per cohort two or three programs a year.
As word got around, we began to attract more students and added more mentors. Also, the content of the program, with the goal of helping the students develop their own mini-business plan, began to improve.
In the early years, every Veteran that applied was accepted. This created problems for selecting the curriculum because we had college business, high school and tech school students in the same classroom.
In 2013, Sakti Kunz joined first as a mentor and later she became Advisory Dean responsible for curriculum content and teaching. At the same time, Alan became Advisory Director of consulting services. We began accepting not only Veterans but, also, family members as students as well.
Covid changed everything. We moved the program from the classroom to zoom sessions and began marketing throughout the US. We even had students in war zones participating at all hours of the day and night. Applications increased substantially which gave us the ability to accept only students who had a
single-minded business idea or were already in business.
To maintain our goal of helping all applicants, Dr. Dale Caldwell, the Director of the Rothman Institute, offered a preparatory class called “Iteration” aimed at helping individuals decide if starting a business was the right decision for them and began teaching the basics. Some from this class became future Veteran
Ventures students.
In 2022, Dale became the President of Centenary University. He offered us the opportunity to move our
program to Centenary. We agreed and moved in 2023, changing our name to Veteran Ventures Program
or VVP.
The program has blossomed these past few years. We interview about 50 candidates for bi-annual programs, selecting 20-25 students to participate. We rely on 30 retired and active business women and men as Consultants who work with the students during the nine weeks of classroom learning and up to an additional six months to help get businesses off the ground.
All who are involved derive great satisfaction from helping Veterans and their families and from giving back. We also enjoy the camaraderie and social experiences of working together for a great cause.
