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Texas veterans looking to start or grow a business now have access to expanded resources with the opening of the state's first "Super" Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC) in San Antonio.
The new center, a partnership between the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), is located at St. Philip’s College and serves as the first of five planned outreach centers that will be established across Texas through 2026 and early 2027.
State officials said the expansion is designed to support Texas’ 1.5 million veterans, along with service members and military spouses, by providing entrepreneurship training, business counseling, mentorship, and connections to financing opportunities.
The San Antonio facility is housed within the Good Samaritan Veterans Outreach and Transition Center at St. Philip’s College and features classrooms, private counseling offices, a computer lab, and a child-friendly area for veterans balancing family responsibilities while pursuing business training.
According to TVC Director of Veteran Services Chip Osborne, one of the greatest challenges facing veteran entrepreneurs is securing startup capital.
“The biggest hurdle has been trying to get those capital resources to stand up their business,” Osborne said. “The capital can be for equipment, for hiring your staff, different levels. We’ve never been able to offer that, so we’re excited.”
To help address that challenge, the center will offer the SBA’s Boots to Business program, a two-day entrepreneurship course that prepares veterans and military spouses for business ownership and helps position them for SBA-backed lending opportunities.
The center will also connect entrepreneurs with Community Development Financial Institutions and other business support organizations that can assist with financing and business development.
TVC officials said veteran entrepreneurship continues to grow across the state. Osborne said the agency completed approximately 4,800 new veteran-owned business verifications last year and expects that number to increase to roughly 7,500 this year with the addition of the Super VBOC network.
Texas currently has about 213,000 veteran-owned businesses, according to the commission. Osborne noted that women veterans represent a growing segment of the entrepreneurial community.
“Not only do we have 1.5 million veterans living here, but we have 207,000 women veterans that are also going into business as women entrepreneurs,” Osborne said.
Veteran business ventures supported through existing state programs range from small family-owned operations to high-tech startups.
“San Antonio has a lot of transportation, but we also see strong (artificial intelligence) AI companies,” said Megan Tamez of the TVC’s Veteran Entrepreneur Program. “There’s one that we’ve worked closely with, AI Cowboys. They have federal contracts, and they’re developing AI for military installations.”
State officials said that veteran-owned businesses supported through TVC programs have already generated more than $1.1 billion in total revenue and more than $711 million in sales.
TVC Chairwoman Laura Koerner said the new center will help bring specialized services directly to veterans in their communities.
“Through this partnership, we are bridging the awareness gap and directly delivering specialized local support to veterans where they live and work,” Koerner said.
The opening comes as state lawmakers continue to pursue policies aimed at helping veteran entrepreneurs.
During the recent legislative session, Senate Bill 524, authored by Senators Donna Campbell and Carol Alvarado, advanced through the Senate. The legislation would exempt businesses entirely owned by veterans from franchise taxes and certain state business filing fees.
A previous measure, Senate Bill 938, successfully created incentives for eligible new veteran-owned businesses, including a waiver of business formation fees and a five-year exemption from the state franchise tax.
Additional Veterans Business Outreach Centers are expected to open in regions with large veteran populations as Texas expands access to business resources for military-connected entrepreneurs statewide.
"I think we’ll see results with the amount of people that we're helping while seeing businesses growing and getting through that initial five years of being in business. That's the hardest,” said Tamez. “So, if you get past that point and we're still here helping you and being able to walk them through whatever nuance that they have, taxpayers will see it.”
