The Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University has received a grant for $7 million dollars, which it will use to open a center of excellence for veterans’ small businesses.

The donation comes from First Data, a global payment technology solutions company, and will be spread out over seven years, according to a First Data press release. The fund will directly support innovative programs designed for transitioning military service members and veteran and military spouse small business owners, according to an SU news release. The grant was announced at halftime of the SU men’s basketball game against Duke University on Saturday.

Raymond Toenniessen, the IVMF’s managing director of development and external relations, said First Data has been working in partnership with IVMF since November, when it was a corporate sponsor of the institute’s annual Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities.

First Data and IVMF have since been collaborating on this donation, “trying to leverage what (is done) at IVMF with what First Data does,” said Toenniessen.

With the significant donation, IVMF plans to open a center of excellence, which will allow the institute to expand existing programs, especially those assisting veterans who own small businesses, he said.

“Veterans are twice as likely to launch a small business as nonveterans,” Toenniessen said. “First Data hopes that (their businesses) may someday grow, but even if they do not, they still help the economy.”

Supporting veterans with programs and donations like these is “just the right thing to do,” Toenniessen said. He added that the relationship between First Data and IVMF is “a game-changing partnership.”

First Data is a company that specializes in payment technology and service solutions, working with many small business owners to develop systems that protect them from fraud and give them insight into consumers, according to a First Data press release.

IVMF also received a $1 million grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation on Tuesday. That grant is part of a three-year pilot to identify ways in which the nonprofit, public and private sectors can better work together to serve veterans, according to an SU news release.

The first of its kind in higher education, IVMF was founded in 2011 by Michael Haynie, who has since been promoted to vice chancellor for veterans and military affairs, while still maintaining his job as executive director of IVMF.

IVMF was created in response to the return of veterans from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Toenniessen, who is a veteran himself. He said that after 9/11 all centers in higher education were “focused on defense and counterterrorism, but there were none focusing resources and knowledge on helping veterans and their families.”

To fill this void and to help veterans be successful when they return from duty, IVMF has three main agendas, Toenniessen said. They include developing programs that help veterans develop skills for the workforce, conducting and disseminating research about policies impacting veterans and working to encourage more businesses to seek out veterans when hiring.

SU has a long-standing tradition of working with veterans and their families to help them succeed after returning home from duty.

Following World War II, SU Chancellor William Pearson Tolley served on the presidential committee that drafted the original GI Bill and enacted a uniform admissions program, which ensured all military personnel admission to SU upon their return from war. By the end of 1947, SU ranked first in New York state and 17th in the U.S. in veteran enrollment, according to SU’s Veterans Resource Center website.

Published on February 18, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Delaney: dovanwey@syr.edu