businessstate

Fifteen Dollars Buys Three Modules, a Boot Camp and a Consultant Who Stays

The Pathway to Assist Veteran Entrepreneurs is a business education programme run by the state economic development agency with the small business development centre network, the veterans department and the National Guard. Registration costs $15. It is three self-paced online modules of about an hour each, then a two-part virtual boot camp, then connection to a small business development centre consultant for continuing support.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: A $15 registration for three training modules, a boot camp and ongoing consulting

The $15 is a registration fee paid to the small business development centre network at sign-up. It is the only figure the programme page states.
The value is the consulting relationship at the end, which the page describes as continued business support rather than a single session — but no hours figure is published, so none is claimed.
This is training and advice. There is no loan, grant or capital attached to it.

Who is entitled to it

You served, or you serve.
Your discharge is inside the published eligibility.
You are in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

1Register first and pay the $15 at the small business development centre portal. Nothing else in the sequence unlocks until that is done.
2Work through the three on-demand modules at your own pace — the page puts each at roughly an hour, covering starting a business, securing financing and developing a sales strategy.
3Finish all three before expecting the next step. Scheduling for the boot camp is triggered by completing the online coursework, not by asking for it.
4Attend the two-part virtual boot camp. It is where the feasibility of the business plan gets assessed rather than admired, so bring numbers.
5Ask to be connected to a consultant at the end and then actually use them — the final step of the programme is the connection to a small business development centre business consultant for continued support, and that is the part with the longest tail.
6Check the eligibility line against your own record before paying: a member or former member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard, including National Guard and Reservists, either serving in good standing or discharged honorably.
7Ask the veterans department about state procurement certification separately. Training and contracting access are two different programmes with two different applications, and finishing one does not enrol you in the other.

Form: Registration at the small business development centre network’s portal
File with: Louisiana Economic Development, delivered through the small business development centre network
Documents you will need: dd214
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

Worth knowingThe delivery chain matters when something goes wrong. The economic development agency owns the programme, the small business development centre network takes the money and runs the training, and the veterans department and the National Guard are partners — so a registration problem is a centre problem, not an agency one.

CorrectionThe programme is often listed as free. The agency’s own page puts a $15 registration fee at step one. It is small, but it is a payment and it is where the sequence starts.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.