TYSONS, Va.–With Veterans Day here, the PenFed Foundation has released a study highlighting the best cities for veterans to start and grow their businesses in the U.S.
This research aims to support and inform the veteran business community and is presented by the PenFed Foundation’s Veteran Entrepreneur Investment Program, an initiative that supports and empowers veteran entrepreneurs with resources and capital to start and grow their businesses, PenFed Credit Union said.
According to the PenFed survey:
The Best Cities
The best cities for veteran entrepreneurs include:
1. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metro Area
2. Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metro Area
3. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area
4. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area
5. San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA Metro Area
6. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area
7. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metro Area
8. Austin-Round Rock, TX Metro Area
9. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area
10. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area
11. Cleveland-Elyria, OH Metro Area
12. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metro Area
13. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area
14. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area
15. Columbus, OH Metro Area
The top emerging cities for veteran entrepreneurs are:
1. Jacksonville, Fla. Metro Area
2. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo. Metro Area
3. Kansas City, MO-KS Metro Area
4. San Diego-Carlsbad, CA Metro Area
5. Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area
A Key Factor
“PenFed Foundation is excited to share this information and celebrate the cities where veteran entrepreneurs can best succeed,” said Seda Goff, director of veteran entrepreneurship at PenFed Foundation. “A successful startup requires a lot of things, but one of the key factors is an ecosystem that supports new and growing businesses. Our hope is that this data will inform decision making and empower veteran entrepreneurs and communities to transform cities across America.”
Goff, who also serves as City Leader for Bunker Labs and teaches entrepreneurship at American University, developed the report in partnership with Edelman Intelligence, PenFed said. The study is part of the PenFed Foundation’s mission to help members of the military community secure their financial future. PenFed Foundation is a national nonprofit providing service members, veterans, their families and support networks with the skills and resources they need to improve their lives through programs on entrepreneurship, financial education, credit-building, homeownership and short-term assistance.
Other Factors
According to PenFed, the study ranked cities based on several key factor important to the success of veteran entrepreneurs, including:
● Support for veterans: The degree to which a city provides the foundation for a veteran to have support and the tools to be successful.
● Ability to start a business: The ability of a city to foster new business development and entrepreneurial success.
● Economic growth: The relative growth of a city across multiple economic indicators.
● Livability: The degree to which a city provides the amenities one looks for when choosing where to live.