LDVA Helps The Boot Secure Federal Grant for New Veteran Business Center in Louisiana
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — September 29, 2026
RELEASE # 20260022
LDVA Helps The Boot Secure Federal Grant to Bring New Veteran Business Support Center to Louisiana
By Daniele Palen, Director of Communications, LDVA
BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs announced today that its work alongside The Boot has helped secure nearly $175,000 per year for the next five years in new federal funding from the U.S. Small Business Administration to establish a Veterans Business Outreach Center in Louisiana. The grant, announced by SBA on Sept. 25, 2026, as part of a nearly $4.9 million nationwide investment to expand the VBOC network in Alaska, Florida, and Louisiana, will fund entrepreneurship training, counseling, and technical assistance at no cost to veterans, active-duty service members, National Guard and Reserve members, military spouses, and eligible family members who want to start, grow, or expand a small business.
The Boot, a Louisiana-based organization dedicated to attracting, retaining, and advancing military talent across the state, will establish and operate the new Louisiana VBOC, expanding its statewide mission from connecting military talent with Louisiana careers to helping veterans and military families build businesses, create jobs, and invest in communities across the state. Since its founding, The Boot has worked to connect transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses with Louisiana employers and career opportunities; the new VBOC adds entrepreneurship and business ownership as another pathway for military-connected families to build their futures in Louisiana.
Through the Louisiana VBOC, The Boot will assist entrepreneurs at every stage of business ownership, from developing a business plan to accessing capital, pursuing government contracts, and scaling an existing company. Services will include individual business counseling, financial and business planning, access-to-capital assistance, government contracting guidance, veteran business certification support, and marketing and outreach, along with SBA’s Boots to Business program, delivered through the Department of Defense Transition Assistance Program, introducing transitioning service members and military spouses to the fundamentals of business ownership.
“Louisiana’s veterans don’t just serve their country, many of them come home and build businesses that serve their communities,” said Secretary Charlton Meginley of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs. “This grant means more of them will have a partner in that journey and there is no better organization than The Boot to lead this effort. I am grateful for its leadership in making this happen, and to SBA for recognizing what Louisiana veteran entrepreneurs have to offer.”
“From the beginning, The Boot has been built around a simple idea: Louisiana should be a place where our service members and their families want to build their lives after military service,” said Andrew Ward, Founder of The Boot. “That means more than connecting veterans to great careers. It means giving them the opportunity and resources to build companies, create jobs, and become the next generation of business leaders in our state. Bringing a dedicated VBOC to Louisiana is a major step forward in that mission, and I believe it can fundamentally change how we support veteran entrepreneurship and retain military talent in Louisiana.”
“The Boot exists because Louisiana wants to build talent and access, and our exiting service members and veterans deserve the opportunity to build something here,” said Ben Armstrong, CEO of The Boot. “There’s no good reason those two things shouldn’t find each other faster. This designation is what happens when public and private partners commit to cutting through the noise and delivering real results. Our job is simple: remove the barriers, connect the right people, and make sure Louisiana keeps and empowers the talent she’s already earned.”
“The Small Business Administration’s Office of Veterans Business Development is honored to team with The Boot to deliver best-in-class entrepreneurial services and training to our fellow veterans and military spouses in Louisiana,” said Kevin Barber, Assistant Administrator at the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Veterans Business Development. “Under the leadership of Administrator Loeffler, SBA and OVBD are expanding our impact and ensuring that we meet veterans, service members, and military spouses where they are in their entrepreneurial journey.”
The Louisiana VBOC will build partnerships across the state with military installations, veteran-serving organizations, economic development groups, chambers of commerce, universities and community colleges, lenders, and government and private-sector partners to create a coordinated entrepreneurship ecosystem for Louisiana’s military-connected population, connecting veteran entrepreneurs with the broader SBA resource network available to veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses.
The Boot is a Louisiana-based organization dedicated to attracting, retaining, and advancing military talent across the state, connecting transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses with Louisiana employers, career opportunities, and resources designed to help military-connected families build successful lives in Louisiana.
Louisiana is home to approximately 250,000 veterans. The Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs serves veterans and their families through a statewide network of benefits counselors, state veterans homes, state veterans cemeteries, and educational-support programs.
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