For Immediate Release
July 20, 2015

Suffolk -- One of Seven Statewide -- Awarded Grant to Fund Veteran Business Assistance Center, Train Veteran Entrepreneurs

Suffolk County Community College has been designated as one of seven Entrepreneurial Assistance Programs (EAP) statewide to develop a Veteran Business Assistance Center and will receive a grant of up to $42,000 from Empire State Development (ESD) to enable the center to assist veterans with starting a new business, or to train veterans in the practices of entrepreneurship and prepare them to pursue self-employment opportunities.

The Suffolk County Community College center will serve the Long Island Region from the Sally Ann Slacke Corporate Training Center on the college’s Michael J. Grant Campus in Brentwood.

Governor Cuomo committed $350,000 in the 2015-16 State Budget to invest in the development of EAP Veteran Business Assistance Centers (VBACs).

The other VBACs will be located in:

• Adirondack Economic Development – North Country Region
• Capital Chamber Foundation / Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce – Capital Region
• IBERO American Action League – Finger Lakes Region
• Renaissance Economic Development Corporation – New York City Region
• South Side Innovation Center at Syracuse University – Central New York Region
• Washington Heights Inwood Development Corporation – New York City Region

New York State’s Entrepreneurial Assistance Program was created in 1987 by the NYS Omnibus Economic Development Act. Since its inception, the EAP initiative has helped entrepreneurs create new businesses and has provided in-depth assistance to minorities, women, dislocated workers and individuals with a disability interested in starting a business. The EAP establishes centers in local communities to provide instruction, training, technical assistance and support services to individuals who have recently started their own business or are interested in starting a business. The program’s EAP centers are strategically located throughout the state.