MSEJ December 2015 | Página 20

CASY & MSCCN provide applicants with weekly trainings on a variety of employment-related topics, including:

Federal Resumes

Interviewing

Resume Targeting

Social Media

Work from Home Opportunities

Visit the following link to learn more and register:

https://attendee.gototraining.com/178sp/catalog/3005003027056274176?tz=America/New_York

Home|Register|About Us

Entrepreneurs Working the Land

By: Brent C.

Some Veterans dream of landing a position with a Fortune 500 company while others dream of running their own business. And for some, that business involves dirt, fresh air, and well, a tractor. If your post-military dreams include barnyards and wide-open spaces, familiarize yourself with existing vet-focused agricultural programs.

Farmer/Veteran Coalition www.farmvetco.org

The Farmer/Veteran Coalition (FVC) is a robust organization with ties to the USDA, Department of Labor, Small Business Administration, DoD, and VA. This coalition has over 4,500 members, 72% of whom have post 9-11 service and 59% of whom have service-connected disabilities. They offer services to any veteran in any phase of agricultural career development. FVC also offers connections to internships, apprenticeships, and Incubator Farms where participants are given a plot of land, a community to work with, and the opportunity to start recording farm income. They connect vets to formal academic programs and hands-on experience which includes business and financing resources for starting and improving agriculture-related businesses.

US Department of Agriculture

www.usda.gov/veterans

blogs.usda.gov/tag/veterans

http://www.outreach.usda.gov/veterans.htm www.usda.gov/newfarmers

The four links here all offer something slightly different. The USDA website and the USDA Blog have collections of farm and vet-related opportunities, and this includes introductory material for vets who think farming is neato, but can’t tell a John Deere from a Mule Deer. Try the New Farmers link for a robust introduction. The USDA also has connections to school programs like Combat Boots to Cowboy Boots at the University of Nebraska or the Vets Sustainable Agriculture Training program at Cal Poly Pomona. On any of the USDA websites, search for “veteran” and you’ll see that vets have a growing place in agriculture.

Agricultural Entrepreneurship for Veterans