Veteran Owned Small Businesses
This week I was joined in studio by friend of the show, Lara Hodgson, CEO of NOWaccount. We focused this episode on veteran owned small businesses. Lara introduced us to Kit Walker, a combat-disabled veteran who started his own small business, EBS-4U, after spending several years in the corporate world.
His company provides professional cleaning services for businesses and has begun to expand into construction clean-up. After completing certification as a minority business enterprise and combat-disabled veteran, Kit began to expand his business through fulfilling federal contract opportunities.
We also met Melinda Coker, of Small Business Access Partners, of Gainesville, GA. This non-profit organization works with small business owners, helping them get access to available small business loans for their particular needs.
In our discussion on veteran owned businesses, Melinda explained there are numerous options for business owners today, and shared some information about veteran owned businesses.
Coker explained a resource available through the Veterans Administration. If you go to the VA’s website which is va.gov and click on the resources link and then select businesses, there are several helpful links for veteran small business owners who are seeking financing for their businesses.
VA’s website also allows business owners to customize their search criteria by zip code to find financing options applicable to their area of operation. SBA’s website also has a special tool now for small business owners known as SBA Linc that allows small business owners to fill out a survey for the financing they are looking for and then SBA distributes that information to a network of lenders who can then
respond based on the financing need requested. The applicant is also provided the contact information for the lenders interested in their request.
Special Guests:
Lara O’Connor-Hodgson, CEO of Nowaccount Network Corporation 
- MBA Harvard Business School
- Former Adjunct Professor of Finance, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Board of Directors, Georgia Regional Transportation Authority
- Owner, Insomnia Group
- Chairman of the Board, Atlanta Heights Charter School
- Second Language–Japanese
Kit Walker, CEO/Founder of EBS-4U 
- MBA, Management & Organizational Behavior, Woodbury University
- Combat-wounded veteran
- Previous VP Relationship Manager, Bank of America
- Former Consultant, Migration Project Partner, Wells Fargo Bank
Melinda Coker, of Small Business Access Partners
