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CNY Veterans and Military Entrepreneurs Connect at SBA Conference

Scott Willis
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WAER News

More than 250 veterans and active members of the military gathered in Onondga Community College's SRC Arena Wednesday in hopes of networking, learning, and growing as entrepreneurs and business owners.  

  It was part of the Small Business Administration’s 9th annual Operation: Start Up and Grow Conference.

The event draws veterans of all stripes, and in various stages of their business careers.  We spotted entrepreneurs Mark Preston and Joseph Erskine chatting on the arena floor.  Erskine owns Right-Hand Man Concierge, serving authors, speakers, and coaches.  He says entrepreneurship is in his blood.

"I come from a family of entrepreneurs, so I knew that working in my family business...once I went through the military, which I did for 26 years...that I would go back to owning my own business," Erskine said.

Mark Preston started MPOE, LLC out of Fairport near Rochester in 2008, and provides leadership coaching, project management, and engineering services to disabled veteran owned small businesses.

"I did not have the courage to go out on my own until after the mortgage was paid, after both of my daughters had graduated from college, and after one of my daughters had been married," Preston said.

Credit Scott Willis / WAER News
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WAER News
Joseph Erskine, left, and Mark Preston.

Preston served in the army as an intelligence officer from 1977 to 1982.   He knows it can be a tough transition for veterans.

"Every day is a new challenge and a new opportunity," said Preston.  "When you're active duty, you get paid the first and the 15th of the month.  When you're an entrepreneur, you get paid when your clients pay you after you've successfully completed a job."

Preston says he was fortunate enough to have an employer who slowly weaned him off his salary to a commission-only income before he struck out on his own.  Joseph Erskine hasn’t had that cushion; he knew entrepreneurship was likely his only option after serving as a cyber-security officer in the navy. 

"I got injured in Afghanistan and Iraq," Erskine said.  "Laying in the hospital, I said, 'what am I going to do now?'  So I said, 'huh, let me go into business.'  Having combat PTSD and clinical depression,  I knew working in the work world would not be conducive to my issues."

Erskine says he connected with counselors at the Veterans Administration, which helped him transition to owning a business.  

Credit Scott Willis / WAER News
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WAER News

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.