UAFS veterans group places third in National Business Plan Competition

The Student Veterans Organization (SVO) at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (UAFS) captured third place in the Student Veterans of America’s National Business Plan Competition and was named Chapter of the Year runner-up.

The Business Plan prize earned the group a $2,000 award — the highest available — from the competition held in January, and an additional $300 bonus for finishing in the top six out of 58 participating schools. It also granted the group the honor of presenting at the SVA’s National Conference from the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, Calif., on Jan. 7.

Jennifer Hosley – U.S. Army veteran, former Patriot missile coordinator, and president of the SVO chapter – said it was the business plan’s specificity and unique strategies that combined to capture the third place finish.

“A lot of the competitors’ business plans focused on one aspect or audience, and we focused on engaging a broad group of people in our region: the community, students and veterans,” Hosley said. “We wanted to make sure everyone gets a piece of the pie.”

The UAFS SVO’s success at Anaheim has opened a dialogue with Microsoft, Hosley said, noting an executive from the tech giant has continued to check in with the organization since Hosley and her team made the elevator pitch in front of the company as well as executives from Google and Raytheon.

“I think he was more disappointed that we didn’t place first than we were,” Hosley said, adding that the purpose behind the organization isn’t to make money. While that’s nice, she said, “It isn’t about the money. Our passion is to have a place where veterans can get together and know that they’re cared for and that they’re supported by everyone on campus and in the community.”

Hosley said it’s also a goal of the organization to seize service opportunities whenever they can. Some recent examples the UAFS SVO has overseen include conducting a rucksack march to raise money for homeless residents, renovating a veteran’s house in rural Oklahoma, and opening a Veterans Resource Center on campus. The group has also launched a Textbook for Troops program that allows members to rent out any required textbook in the campus library for an entire semester.

The UAFS business plan, which focused on fostering the development and growth of student veterans organizations, was the culmination of an ongoing three-year birthing process that began with Marine Corps veteran Armando Castro, who graduated in 2015.  Castro needed to tackle the “capstone” project required of him before graduation. After examining opportunities available, he decided he wanted the project to be something more than sitting behind the desk at a local business or nonprofit and answering phones.

He decided to approach the SVO with hopes of finding a more service-based opportunity to tie into his experience, only to find out of the more than 100 registered UAFS clubs, there wasn’t one focusing on veterans. Castro connected with UAFS Veterans Coordinator Dawn Webster, now the UAFS SVO advisor, to start his own.

“In the early days, we weren’t sure what we were doing or how we were doing it,” Webster told Talk Business & Politics. “From there, it took on a life of its own.”

The inaugural year drew 32 members. By the time Castro graduated in 2015, that number had more than doubled to 68. Hosley took over after Castro and as of Feb. 15, the group boasts 140 members — an increase of approximately 438% since inception.

The UAFS SVO is one of 1,400 chapters in the Student Veterans Association, which represents 50 states, four countries, and more than 550,000 student veterans at participating colleges and universities.