The SBA Seattle District Office is hosting “Boots to Business: Reboot” – a free entrepreneurship training program for veterans and their spouses – in Edmonds Nov. 4 and 5. The training is being offered in conjunction with SBA’s National Veterans Small Business Week Nov. 3-7.

Modeled after the existing “Operation Boots to Business: From Service to Startup” program for transitioning service members, the curriculum provides assistance to veterans and their spouses exploring self-employment opportunities.

The curriculum is provided by the SBA in partnership with the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University (IVMF) and leads participants through the key steps for evaluating business concepts and the foundational knowledge required for developing a business plan.

The greater Seattle area was one of 12 cities in the U.S. to initially provide the Reboot program during summer 2014. 

“Accustomed to accountability, discipline and decisiveness, veterans are natural entrepreneurs and business leaders,” said SBA District Director Nancy Porzio. “We’ve facilitated more than 50 Boots to Business trainings on military installations across the state. With more than 600,000 veterans in Washington, we’re honored to be one of the dozen districts in the country to expand our training via Reboot.”

The two-day program is instructor-led by subject matter experts from SBA resource partners. Participants learn business fundamentals and work through an initial feasibility analysis of their business concepts.

Upon completion of the two-day entrepreneurship class, participants can elect to further their study through an instructor guided eight-week online course led by the IVMF at Syracuse University. Completion of this course requires approximately 10 hours of study each week to guide participants through the fundamentals of developing a business plan. 

The Reboot training will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days at the Edmonds Plaza Room. Seating for the free training is limited. Those interested can register on the events page of www.sba.gov/wa. 

October 15 - 19, Lynnwood
On Friday 10/17 the Veterans will be going from their hotel, the Hampton Inn and Suites in Lynnwood, to the ferry in Edmonds at 9:20 AM for a memorial service on the water. The veterans will be having lunch in Kingston and that is another opportunity to enjoy their company. And on Saturday 10/18 between 2 and 4 PM, the Veterans will be in the hotel available to meet people in the community. 

Contact:  Sue Scott
Phone:  360-797-1626

We should realize the Guadalcanal campaign ranks with D-Day, Gettysburg and Valley Forge as the four most important military trials in our history.  Our nation was defeated, even senior leaders in Washington believed we could not defeat the Japanese on Guadalcanal,  and their lack of confidence was reported, via spies, to the Japanese.  This was one of the reasons the Japanese continued to underestimate our fighting forces on and around Guadalcanal.

So, Thank You for showing us that Americans could win.

And you saved Australia.  From the end of April 1942, the islands around Guadalcanal were part of Japan’s plan to capture Port Moresby in New Guinea and from there to attack Australia...New Guinea and Guadalcanal were two prongs of the same attack plan.   Two weeks before the US landed on Guadalcanal, the Japanese landed on the north shore of New Guinea to march through jungles and mountains to attack Port Moresby.   All through August and September, Australian forces fought and retreated.  By the middle of September, Japanese forces could see Port Moresby. 

But, because of you on Guadalcanal, Japan was forced to give up its attack on Port Moresby.  On September 24, the Japanese were ordered to withdraw because the reinforcements they would need to carry out the attack were being sent to Guadalcanal.
These Japanese troops were starving, and they had planned to feed themselves in Port Moresby.  Instead, because of Guadalcanal, they had to retreat through 100 miles of jungle.

On behalf of Australia, Thank You.   While Guadalcanal was enduring the artillery, Naval gun and aerial bombardments of mid-October, starving Japanese were retreating through New Guinea jungles...all because of you.

Know these two dates:

October 21 was the day Japanese General Hyakutake had scheduled for American surrender.  He ordered his forces to keep killing Americans until they saw General Vandegriff with his staff and a translator carrying a white flag down the beach.

And, in early October, Japanese troops retreating from Port Moresby turned to cannibalism.  Because of the fighting courage of Americans on Guadalcanal, starving Japanese soldiers gave up plans to conquer Australia and turned to eating their own dead.

So, in October 2014, we thank you for what your courage accomplished in October, 1942.   Instead of giving Japanese General Hyakutake a chance to repeat the Bataan Death March, you men killed so many of his troops that Guadalcanal was known to the Japanese as “the Island of Death”.

We thank you for that.
Lt. Col. William "Bill" Waters
USMC

Reminder of the regular meeting on Monday, October 13th at 7 PM. Minutes from the September meeting are available here.

Veterans of any military branch can receive a free set of estate planning documents (a will, advance health care directive and power of attorney) on Saturday, October 18 from the Washington Veterans Will Clinic.  This is the first year the clinic is available in the Puget Sound area.  It originated in Spokane in 2012 and has served over 300 veterans.  To qualify, the veteran needs discharge papers (DD 214), proof of Washington residency and have less than $500,000 in assets ($1 million if married; spouses are included at the clinic).
 
Veterans can register online now at www.wavetswillclinic.com (full details and disclaimers on the website).  Attorneys will use the online registration to prepare draft documents.  The veteran will then be scheduled for a one-hour meeting with an attorney on Saturday, October 18.  Changes to the documents will be made on-site.  The documents are printed, signed and notarized at the clinic.  The veteran walks out with a complete set of documents at no cost.  To obtain these documents privately, the average cost is $500-$1000.  The majority of Washingtonians do not have estate planning documents so the clinic provides a much needed resource.
 
Several veteran service organizations will also be at the clinic to answer questions and provide resources.  The North Sound clinic will be at the University of Washington School of Law in north Seattle on Saturday, October 18.  Free parking is available for all veterans.  Please pass the word to any veterans you know about this great resource.  For further information or questions, please contact the North Sound clinic at seattle@wavetswillclinic.com or (425) 610-6353.