The Bank of America Foundation is providing a $50,000 grant to support the continued development and expansion of the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities program at the University of Connecticut’s School of Business.
The program is an experiential business development initiative founded in 2007 to offer training in entrepreneurship and small business management to post-9/11 veterans with disabilities resulting from their military service. More than 300 service-disabled veterans have graduated from the program since its inception and graduates are responsible for the creation of more than 150 new, small businesses.
UConn joined the consortium in 2010 and conducted its first training program last fall. The training is provided at no cost to eligible veterans at UConn, Syracuse, UCLA, Purdue, Florida State, Louisiana State University and Texas A&M University.
The training consists of three stages: an online curriculum for four weeks; resident training on campus for 10 days; and mentoring and continued support for a year or more, if necessary.
More than a dozen returning Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans attended UConn’s initial classes on the Storrs campus. Going into its second year, Mike Zacchea, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and highly decorated combat veteran who directs the program for UConn, anticipates doubling the number of veterans attending in 2011.
UConn School of Business alumnus William S. Simon, Wal-Mart U.S. president and CEO, was the featured speaker at the graduation ceremony held in Hartford last fall. Simon will be returning to speak to the 2011 class of UConn’s EBV program at their graduation ceremony in October.
Chrysalis reaches goal
Grants from The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and the John G. Martin Foundation are allowing Chrysalis Center Inc. to complete “La Cocina,” a commercial kitchen to be used for culinary arts training.
Each foundation contributed $25,000 to purchase equipment so that agency clients can get hands-on culinary training leading to employment in the food service industry. Additional project contributors are Asylum Hill Congregational Church, Ahearn Family Foundation, and the Greater Hartford Automobile Dealers Association Foundation.
According to the Connecticut Department of Labor, demand is strong for jobs such as restaurant cooks, food preparation and serving workers, counter attendants, cafeteria and food concession workers, waiters/waitresses, and dishwashers.
La Cocina is located at Chrysalis Center’s offices at Homestead Avenue and Woodland Street in Hartford.
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Grant targets training
The Peoples United Community Foundation has awarded Capital Workforce Partners $10,000 as part of an overall initiative to develop school-to-career programming and operations specifically designed for urban youth in the North Central Connecticut region.
“The funds will be used to extend the ‘Tier IV’ Career Connections year round program for Hartford high school juniors and seniors to more students and additional schools and academies,” says Thomas Phillips, Capital Workforce Partners president and CEO.
The grant is part of $637,940 awarded to nonprofit organizations in the bank’s service area for the third quarter. Sixty organizations throughout six states received funding in support of their programs, which ranged from basic needs services and affordable housing initiatives, to education and employment programs.
The largest grants are $30,000 to the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport for tornado recovery and $25,000 to the Kennedy Center Inc., also in Bridgeport.
In addition to Capital Workforce, recipients in Greater Hartford included: $10,000 to My Sisters Place Inc. for life skills training; $10,000 to Covenant Preparatory School Inc. for enrichment programs; and $25,000 to Teach for America — Connecticut.
Hartford area grants totaled $71,500 including $7,500 to Hartford Areas Rally Together for a home ownership program and $5,000 grants to the American School for the Deal for after school language programs; Children’s Home of Cromwell for an at-risk youth program; Chrysalis Center for Freshplace; Lawyers for Children; Literacy Volunteers of Central CT and the Manchester Area Conference of Churches for its emergency food pantry. The Hartford Food System received a $4,000 grant for its Grow Hartford program.
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Challenge targets walking
The Bridgeport Regional Business Council’s third annual walking challenge will step off Sept. 1 with a stroll around the Beardsley Zoo. But it’s just the beginning of what organizers hope will be a 430-mile trek for health.
It’s all part of the “United Healthcare Grow Healthy Regional Walking Challenge,” sponsored by St. Vincent’s Medical Center and Planet Fitness. Team members will aim for 10,000 steps a day — an average of 5 miles — from Sept. 1 to Nov. 18, for a total of 860,000 steps. That is the equivalent of 430 miles on the journey to good health.
Top performers — both individuals and corporate teams — will be honored at the council’s annual dinner in early December.
“Health is what this challenge is all about,” said Marc Vallario, vice president of sales and account management at United Healthcare, Trumbull. “Walking is excellent exercise for just about everyone. It’s an activity you can do almost anywhere, at any time. You don’t need special equipment; you don’t need a trainer. You can walk around your neighborhood on a beautiful evening or walk inside on a treadmill. Whatever you do, you will be walking your way to better health.”
