A program aimed at making it less expensive for military veterans or those on active duty to start a business will be implemented starting this week.
“Boots to Business,” advocated by Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes and one that enjoyed bipartisan support, was passed by the 2018 General Assembly.
Under the program, new business entities that are 51-percent owned by a military veteran or active service member, including members of the National Guard, are eligible for fee waivers for the initial business filing and the annual report filing in the next four years of business.
”For the last several years, we have worked hard to honor the service of Kentucky’s more than 330,000 veterans. ‘Boots to Business’ thanks our heroes for their selfless service and sacrifice to our country and encourages them to continue giving to their communities. We want to encourage and foster entrepreneurship and help them start a new chapter,” Grimes said.
In 2017 alone, her office identified 8,300 Kentucky businesses that were at least 50-percent veteran-owned.
Reps. Tim Moore, R-Elizabethtown, Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green and DJ Johnson, R-Owensboro, sponsored the legislation in the House of Representatives. Richards also carried the bill in previous sessions.
Gen. Benjamin F. Adams, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs, thanked Grimes and the lawmakers for their efforts.
”It’s service that is the call,” he said. “There are so few who are able to serve and, for those who can, we owe everything we have to give them an opportunity to do more with what they want to do in life.”
Grimes said her office will begin accepting applications on Aug. 1. Potential new veteran or active-duty military business owners can learn more about the program by contacting the Secretary of State’s office or visiting sos.ky.gov.