The Federal Government has established a number of different aids for people that are in the military that seek to attend University or college, but many people are unaware of the different options for small business owners. The Montgomery GI Bill has been available for many years to aid businesses and small business owners that need assistance. Both the Department of Defense and Congress has worked hard to make additional opportunities for Veterans that wish to use their MGIB benefits to assist in getting started in a small business.
There are a number of different opportunities to use your MGIB funds to learn about and become trained as a small business Entrepreneur. There are a variety of Small Business Development centers that are located across the nation, by groups such as the National Veterans Development Corporation. If you already own a small business this does not necessarily disqualify you from using your MGIB funds in this manner. Entrepreneur training and small business training gives Veterans the chance to take classes or enroll in courses that are offered across the nation. Over the last several years there have been increases by the Department of Defense to increase opportunities to use MGIB funding for small business type training. Congress sat up and realized that the return of Veterans and their wide variety of experience present a rich source of talent, expertise and experience that can be used in the small business community. If you qualify for using your benefits in this way then it is a great way to get business and small industry training. It is most definitely worth inquiring about if you are a small business owner or if you have experience in small business. You have up to the ten year limit clock to use the benefits that you have accrued. If you were wise and participated in the Montgomery GI Active Duty Buy-Up Program, you could even possibly qualify for an additional $5,400 dollars of funding to use in this manner. Some of the things you may be able to use your MGIB funds for include: enroll in a business class, take a business opportunities class, or join a how to start your own business program.
You can utilize your MGIB funds for apprenticeship and business classes, ones that qualify and are approved by the Veterans administration, for up to the 36 – month limit. These type of courses are still rather new, and the courses themselves have to be approved on a individual case by case business.
