The Martin J. Whitman School of Management’s Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises program was deemed best in the nation for veterans and No. 2 overall by rankings website College Factual.

This was the first year College Factual ranked colleges’ veteran entrepreneurship programs. College Factual took into account post-graduate earnings, quality of life, affordability and availability of veteran resources when determining the EEE program’s rank, according to its website.

“We’ve always considered ourselves a top ranked program and we’ve certainly made a lot of important investments in working with the veteran community,” said Alexander McKelvie, associate professor of entrepreneurship and EEE department chair.

Whitman has also been consistently ranked by the Military Times as a top business school for veterans.

McKelvie said rankings do not always reflect Whitman’s success accurately, but he is still pleased with the recognition from College Factual.

The EEE department offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees that give students the opportunity to work with local businesses and develop entrepreneurial skills. It also hosts multiple veteran’s organizations including the Barnes Family Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans’ Families and the Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship program.

The close cooperation between the EEE department and Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families is probably one of the reasons why Whitman ranks higher than other schools’ entrepreneurship programs, said Mike Haynie, executive director IVMF and SU vice chancellor responsible for veterans and military affairs.

“When the IVMF was created in 2011, it became the umbrella for our veteran business ownership programs,” Haynie said. “Programs focused on veterans and business ownership programs have grown to a remarkable scale.”

There are very few colleges in the country that cooperate so closely with veterans departments, Haynie added.

“Whitman offers veterans cultural competency,” Haynie said. “We understand the veteran community, and as a consequence we can design, develop and teach curriculum to veterans focused on business ownership that understands their unique military experience.”

Whitman launched veteran-specific programs in 2007, when the EBV began providing disabled post-9/11 veterans with entrepreneurship training. The EBV program has trained 1,300 veterans and extended to 10 other universities since its founding, according to the EBV website.

College Factual also ranked Whitman’s overall EEE department as the second best entrepreneurship program in the nation.

“Entrepreneurship isn’t really a known major, so the fact that we have a renowned program for this kind of major is pretty awesome,” said Ashley Narvaez, a senior EEE major.

The EEE department teaches about 2,500 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students each year. In the last three years, the EEE’s Couri Hatchery, a student-business incubator, has experienced a 600 percent growth and now helps nearly 150 student businesses.

“Over the years, (the EEE department) has definitely put more of an emphasis on getting people internships,” Narvaez said.

The recognition for the work that the EEE department has been doing for veterans was also very important, she added.

Haynie, a military veteran himself, knew the EEE department’s veteran entrepreneurship programs were a success long before news of its ranking.

“Sometimes I tell stories of the businesses created by graduates of these programs where I say you couldn’t make this stuff up,” Haynie said. “Hollywood couldn’t make this stuff up.”

Published on September 27, 2016 at 6:55 pm

Contact Jordan: [email protected] | @jordanmuller18