Veteran Business Super Intelligence℠ · Sponsored by National Invest In Veterans Week®
Veteran Entrepreneur Pipeline and Access to Capital
Three years of Summit sign-up data, counted in aggregate, read next to the Syracuse University IVMF study of how veteran business owners finance and borrow. No personal names or emails appear anywhere on this page.
IVMF report November 2019
Survey of Consumer Finances 2016
Part 1 · Who signed up for the Summit
Counts of sign-ups from three yearly lists. Only branch of service, whether the person owns a business, and how long they have owned one were counted. Names and emails were used for nothing else than spotting repeat sign-ups, and are not shown or stored here.
Part 2 · How veteran business owners finance and borrow
Figures from the IVMF report "Veteran Entrepreneurship: Access to Capital Challenges and Opportunities" (Syracuse University, 2019), which analyzes the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances: 5,251 veterans (23.3% own a business) and 25,989 non-veterans (26.2% own a business).
Part 3 · Reading the two together
- Summit lists are sign-ups, not attendance, and answers are self-reported. They describe who registered, not veteran business owners in general.
- The tenure question appears only on the 2018 and 2019 lists. "Startup" includes some people who do not yet own a business. A few sign-ups left fields blank and are counted as not stated.
- Repeat sign-ups were matched on email address, which undercounts people who used different addresses.
- The IVMF figures come from a survey sample of 5,251 veterans and 25,989 non-veterans. The report notes the sample may not represent all veteran business owners. Percentages for the smaller veteran-owner group can swing with few respondents.
- The two data sources were collected separately and are not linked by person. Part 3 points out fits, not cause and effect.
Veteran Business Super Intelligence℠ · Sponsored by National Invest In Veterans Week®
Pennsylvania Veteran Business Snapshot
Senate Resolution 234 recognizes March 1 to 7, 2026 as "Invest in Veterans Week" in Pennsylvania. This page sets the resolution next to what the SBA certified-firm list shows for the Commonwealth: how many firms, where they are, how they are certified and what they do.
Pennsylvania firms with a public location
Senate Resolution 234 of 2026 (Printer's No. 1478)
- Recognizes the week of March 1 through 7, 2026 as "Invest in Veterans Week" in Pennsylvania and resolves that the Senate promote veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses in the Commonwealth.
- States that Pennsylvania is home to 700,000 veterans and is ranked among the top states for veteran-owned small businesses, with $84,035,855 invested in veteran-owned businesses in fiscal year 2024-2025.
- Points to the Commonwealth's Veterans Business Enterprise and Service Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise procurement programs, and to mentorship between experienced business leaders and veteran founders.
- Calls for more visibility for veteran-owned businesses so Pennsylvanians buy from them and Commonwealth contracts keep growing.
- Introduced March 2, 2026 by Senator Pennycuick and eleven Senate co-sponsors, and referred to the Rules and Executive Nominations Committee the same day. Its later status is not shown here; check the General Assembly site.
What stands out
Pennsylvania against the nation
Every figure is a share of firms that list a public location, so Pennsylvania and the U.S. are measured the same way.
Where the firms are
What they do and when they started
- The SBA certified-firm list and the Commonwealth's own Veterans Business Enterprise and Service Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise programs are separate lists. Counts here do not describe the Commonwealth's registered firms or its $84,035,855 in spending.
- Firms that hide their location (7,795 across the country) are in no state or district count, so Pennsylvania's true total is higher than 952.
- Capability categories are keyword estimates from firm names and descriptions. Year established covers firms certified now. Counts are firms, not dollars.
- The 700,000 veteran count, the spending figure and the program names come from the resolution's text as supplied, not from independent checking.
- Ranks compare Pennsylvania with the 46 other states and territories that have at least 100 certified firms with a public location.
"Confirms the baseline count of 1.6 million veteran-owned firms and the 3.2 million employment figure for employer firms."
Veteran Business Super Intelligence℠ · Sponsored by National Invest In Veterans Week®
Capital Stress Test Engine
Set a credit-market scenario and see how it lands on the veteran-owned firms in any state or congressional district. The engine pairs the SBA VetCert firm snapshot with published veteran credit-denial research and shows the result as a district map of exposure, an industry stress test and a printable brief.
34,319 firms with a public location
Scenario model, not a forecast
How the model works
- Scenario inputs come from the IVMF analysis of the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances: 23.96% of veteran business owners were turned down for credit against 18.47% of nonveteran owners, and 59% of those turned down did not reapply. Every input can be changed.
- Local exposure comes from the firm snapshot. Firm age is cited in 34.15% of the reasons veterans gave for expecting denial, so that share of the denial rate scales with how young a place's firm base is (founded 2024 to 2026) against the nation. An optional lender-readiness weight adds firms with no written capabilities narrative.
- Outputs are estimated firms turned down, estimated firms left short of the full amount, and the part of that attributable to the veteran gap. They are scenario arithmetic on firm counts, not a prediction of closures or liquidity.
1. Pick a place
2. Set the scenario
Brief for this place and scenario
Rewrites itself whenever you change the place or the scenario.
District and state stress test
Districts and states with at least 40 firms (districts) or 100 firms (states) are ranked. Smaller places swing too much to rank.
The evidence behind the inputs
- This is a scenario model. Nothing here forecasts a firm's survival or a lender's decision. The SBA list holds no revenue, employee, loan or lender data, so micro-businesses cannot be isolated and credit outcomes are not observed.
- The credit rates come from one survey of business owners (2016 Survey of Consumer Finances, IVMF analysis, November 2019). They are national, not local, and the engine does not read live macroeconomic feeds. State tax or interest-rate changes can be entered only through the scenario controls.
- The share of firms seeking credit each year (default 25%) is an assumption, not a measured value. Change it to test other cases.
- Industry categories are keyword estimates from firm names and descriptions. Industry stress applies each category's national youth share to the selected place's industry mix; for a district it uses the state's mix scaled to the district's firm count.
- Firms that hide their location (7,795 across the country) are in no state or district count. Counts are firms, not dollars.
Our Team
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President Angel Shuford
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) | Army Veteran
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Retired U.S. Army First Sergeant Kevin D. Shoun
Senior Advisor | Civic Leadership and Policy Development
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Sara Pomposo
Chief Advisor | Audience Growth & Strategic Syndication
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Jim Freeman of The Five Satins
GRAMMY Hall of Famer | Brand Ambassador
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Pastor Ron Henson
Social Impact Advisor | Navy Veteran
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LTC Rickey L. Pope USA, Ret.
CO-FOUNDER | Retired Army Veteran, Retired Firefighter
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Jeff Shuford
CO-FOUNDER | Iraq War Veteran & Military Spouse
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Drayton Florence
CO-FOUNDER | NFL Veteran & Military Brat
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Erik M. Pelton & Associates, PLLC
Trademark Attorney | Veteran IP Advocate
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CPT Sherman WIlliams, USA, Ret.
Advisor | Retired Army Veteran
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Brandon Sugar
Legacy UX/UI Designer | Army Veteran
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Mike Bicek
Creative Director | Army Veteran
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Private Jewel
Co-Founders Pup | Biewer Terrier
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Lonnell McCall I
Sr. Spokesperson | Retired Navy Veteran
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Celeste Everett
Legacy IT Consultant | Army Veteran
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Lonnell McCall II
Jr. Spokesperson | Military Brat
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Christopher B. Mueller
Lead Video Spokesperson | Veteran Advocate
FEDERAL & STATE LEGITIMACY
The observance is grounded in public record. We maintain a synchronized ledger of government recognitions.
GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE
LIVE NETWORK TRACKING // NIVW-1Veteran Business Super Intelligence℠ · Sponsored by National Invest In Veterans Week®
How Governors Honor Veterans and What Their States Show
In the Ripon Forum's Veterans Day 2025 issue, National Governors Association Chair Kevin Stitt describes what governors are doing for veterans and military families. This page takes the six states he names and sets each next to the SBA certified-firm list: how many veteran-owned firms, how they are certified, and how new they are.
Firms with a public location
6 states
The article: "How America's Governors Are Honoring America's Veterans"
- By Kevin Stitt, Governor of Oklahoma and Chairman of the National Governors Association, in Ripon Forum, Veterans Day 2025 issue, page 4.
- Governors highlight opportunities for veterans each year through Invest in Veterans Week in March and National Hire a Veteran Day in July.
- The NGA initiative Do Your Part: State Leadership to Support Military Families, launched with Blue Star Families, draws on governors' best practices on spousal employment, childcare, education, healthcare, community connection and housing. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is honorary chair.
- Oklahoma is home to over 340,000 veterans, about 9 percent of its population, per the article.
What each governor did, per the article
What stands out
The six states side by side
Shares of firms that list a public location, so every state and the nation are measured the same way.
Ranks and strengths
- The article describes policy actions. The SBA list counts certified firms. This page does not claim either caused the other.
- Governor actions are summarized from the article as written and were not checked against state records.
- Firms that hide their location (7,795 across the country) are in no state count, so each state's true total is higher.
- Capability categories are keyword estimates from firm names and descriptions. Year established covers firms certified now. Counts are firms, not dollars.
- Ranks compare each state with the other states and territories that have at least 100 certified firms with a public location (firm count ranks all 56).
