VA Praises SBA Business Program for Vets

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From: "VA Media Relations" va.media.relations@ VA.GOV
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 3:00 PM

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Nicholson Praises SBA's Patriot Express Loans
Vets a "Great Resource" for Business, Secretary Says
WASHINGTON (June 13, 2007) -- With nearly a quarter of newly discharged
veterans considering starting their own businesses, Secretary of
Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson praised a new Small Business
Administration venture to make business ownership easier for all
veterans.

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has unveiled a program called
"Patriot Express" that offers a wide variety of assistance to veterans
interested in setting up or expanding their own small businesses.

"America's veterans are a great resource for the private sector,"
Nicholson said. "I commend Administrator Steve Preston of the Small
Business Administration for his initiative in helping veterans
transition back into the private sector."

Assistance under the new SBA program for veterans ranges from help
writing a business plan and managing a business, to obtaining financing
and learning how to export goods. Participants may also qualify for
loans between 2.25 percent and 4.75 percent over the prime interest
rate.

Patriot Express is open to veterans, reservists and National Guard
members, current spouses of eligible personnel, the surviving spouses of
service members who die on active duty, or spouses of veterans who die
from a service-connected disability.

Expanding veterans' eligibility to SBA's Patriot Express program was a
key recommendation of a presidential task force on the needs of
returning veterans that Nicholson chaired. Nicholson delivered the
panel's report to the White House on April 23.

More information about the SBA program is available at
http://www.sba. gov/patriotexpre ss.