NYS VBOC Program is the Best in the Nation

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Michael Gragg, John Narciso, Amy Amoroso, John McKeone
The NYS VBOC was recognized at the SBA National Business Awards Ceremony in Washington, DC on June 21, 2013 as the 2013 Veterans' Business Outreach Center of the Year. We are especially proud of the services these staff members deliver directly to veterans as well as the support they provide to other SBDC Advisors who regularly work with veteran clients. The sponsoring SBA Office of Veterans' Business Services made the selection from among its national network of 15 VBOC programs.

The NYS SBDC network has been assisting veterans since its inception in 1984. For the first 15 years of its existence, the statewide program assisted veterans along with other entrepreneurial individuals in the state. In September 1999, assistance to veterans became a new priority when the NYS SBDC became one of four SBDCs in the nation to pilot the Veteran’s Business Outreach Center (VBOC) program that is funded through the SBA’s Office of Veterans’ Business Development. The NYS SBDC has been awarded subsequent grants, and has dedicated Veterans Business Advisers located at the Farmingdale, Albany, and Buffalo SBDCs.

Farmingdale Business Advisor John Narciso, who was in DC to accept the award along with the current VBOC advisors, has been part of the VBOC program since the beginning, and was the statewide coordinator of the NYS VBOC program from 2006 through 2013. The current statewide VBOC coordinator, Michael Gragg from Farmingdale, Amy Amoroso from Albany, and John McKeone from Buffalo were in DC with John Narciso to accept the award.

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