I’ve built and sold businesses. I’ve coached founders. I’ve helped others scale. And every time I talk with an entrepreneur… I realized something fast: Even the most experienced business owner needs proximity. 👉 The right people. 👉 The right rooms. 👉 The right guidance. You rise to the level of your environment. That’s why I've joined groups like this, hosted events, and hired mentors. Not because I was struggling… but because I wanted to grow faster and sharper. Every major leap I’ve made in business came from proximity: 🤔 Sitting next to people who challenged my thinking. Learning from mentors who had already built what I wanted to build. Surrounding myself with owners who were playing at a higher level. Veterans understand this better than anyone: your unit means everything. Your environment determines your mission’s success. And in business, it’s no different.

Kelly Loeffler, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), announced a new rule allowing borrowers to combine their 7(a) and 504 loans for up to $10 million in SBA-backed financing. This change doubles the previous $5 million cap, expanding access to capital for small businesses across industries. - Small businesses in construction, logistics, food production, manufacturing, energy, and related industries can now apply for up to $5 million through the 7(a) program while continuing to use unlimited 504 loans for distinct projects. - The rule takes effect July 4, marking the highest financing level in SBA history. - Loeffler emphasized that the Trump Administration is “unleashing historic new capital” to help small businesses grow, hire, and expand production. - The initiative aims to empower job creators, strengthen American manufacturing, and boost the small business economy. In short, the SBA’s new policy significantly increases available funding for small businesses—especially manufacturers—by combining two major loan programs under a unified $10 million cap. Read the full article at the link below: https://www.sba.gov/article/2026/05/18/sba-doubles-cumulative-7a-504-loan-limit-10-million#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20%E2%80%93%20Today%2C%20Kelly%20Loeffler%2C%20Administrator%20of%20the,capital%20available%20to%20small%20businesses%20across%20all%20industries

Hi, I'm Panella Page an Air Force Veteran. I recently retired from a VA hospital. I currently live in Michigan and desire to create housing for homeless veterans in my community and Georgia. I looking forward to learning how to navigate and create veteran owned businesses.

Last week I said my biggest win was adopting AI in my business. Here is an example of how I did it. Task: Needed to look up peoples addresses from a spread sheet, then going on a website to get their phone numbers, then cross referencing the names to assure it was the right person, then putting the phone number in the spreadsheet. Now there are platforms that charge hundreds of dollars a month to do this. But, I used Claude. With a simple prompt, Claude went into the spreadsheet, copied the address, typed it into the website search, reviewed and matched the results, copied the phone number and put it in a spreadsheet. It did this 60 times for me, saving over 1 hour of tedious work. No need to hire a Virtual Assistant (VA), or pay $200/mo for a fancy software platform. This is just one simple way I implemented a tool to make my business more efficient, so I can focus on task that generate revenue. The biggest win is getting one more hour back a week with my family. Now just find a way to do that 40x and it is a truly passive business.

Research shows that 62% of Americans would prefer to be their own boss rather than work for someone else. There are approximately 15.7 million veterans in America today. About 1.6 million already own businesses. That leaves roughly 14.1 million veterans who don't. If veterans are similar to the general population, that means there could be as many as 8.7 million veterans who want the freedom, flexibility, and opportunity that comes with business ownership but haven't taken the leap. There are fewer than 400 of us in this group. Think about that. We've barely scratched the surface. Somewhere out there are millions of veterans with business ideas, side hustles, skills, experience, and dreams that never make it past the planning stage because they don't know where to start or don't have the right people around them. That's why this community exists. Not just for veteran business owners. But future veteran business owners, too. So here's my challenge: Invite one veteran. Just one. Someone who's talked about starting a business. Someone who's already running a side hustle. Someone who needs to be around other veterans building businesses. If each member invited one person, we'd double the size of our community overnight. Find your one and send them this link: https://veteranbusinesscommunity.com