ABOUT THE VEA
A home base for veterans and spouses who want to build real businesses in Idaho.
The Veteran Entrepreneur Alliance (VEA) exists so veterans and their spouses are not stuck figuring out business ownership alone. We combine AI assisted onboarding, one on one support, practical education, and a statewide network so you can move from idea, to launch, to growth with real backup.
No hype. No magic formula. Just honest guidance and a community that understands mission, risk, and responsibility.
OUR STORY
VEA started the way a lot of veteran stories start. Transition hit hard, the plan did not survive contact with reality, and building a business felt a lot like being dropped into a new AO without a map.
Isaac will tell you he did a masters level job of screwing it up. Wrong moves, wrong partners, wrong assumptions. What finally changed things was not motivation. It was access. Access to people who would tell the truth, tools that actually helped, and a community that did not disappear when things got messy.
VEA was built to be that access point for veterans and spouses across Idaho. A place where you can show up with an idea, a half built business, or a growing company and not get judged for where you are starting.
Why Veteran Entrepreneurship?
There was a time when nearly half of all veterans came home and started businesses. Those businesses created jobs, stability, and pride in every community they touched. Those numbers have dropped hard.
It is not because veterans lost their edge. It is because the path got more complicated.
Veterans and spouses bring:
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A bias for action
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Comfort with responsibility
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Experience leading in uncertainty
What is often missing is a clear playbook for business. That gap shows up as bad contracts, broken partnerships, ugly cash flow, and wasted time.
Our mission is to help close that gap in Idaho and reignite veteran entrepreneurship here, one member at a time.
Veteran business ownership was close to 50% after WW2
Currently Veteran Business ownership is less than 6%
Idaho has room for a surge in veteran owned businesses
900+
Members Served
Veterans and Spouses Across Idaho.
Nearly 500
Launched
New Idaho Veteran and Spouse Businesses.
Over 17k
Hours of Education
Provided to Idaho Veterans and Spouses.
Countless
Connections
Partnerships and friendships created.
Partners and Ecosystem
VEA is one part of a larger Idaho ecosystem. We work alongside organizations like Mission43, Trailhead, the Idaho Workforce Development Council, Boise Entrepreneur Week, universities, state agencies, and private partners who believe veteran owned businesses make the state stronger.
When you plug into VEA, you are not just meeting us. You are being connected into a broader network of people and organizations who can help you move faster and avoid landmines.
