Detroit, MI, Oct. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- National Veterans Business Development Council (NVBDC) welcomes Amazon Global Military Affairs as its newest Corporate Member. Amazon Global Military Affairs and Amazon Business are committed to supporting the NVBDC Certified Service-Disabled, and Veteran Owned Businesses (SD/VOBs). This includes an ongoing effort to enhance their outreach to secure SD/VOBs in their procurement opportunities.
In May 2016, Jeff Bezos committed to hiring 25,000 veterans and military spouses over five years. Today, there are more than 40,000 veterans and military spouses working at every level, across every business line at Amazon. The goal of Amazon Global Military Affairs is to recruit, develop, retain, and improve the lives of transitioning veterans and military spouses in support of Amazon’s commitment to be Earth’s most military-friendly company. Amazon has several programs dedicated to finding opportunities to train and employ military veterans and their spouses including the Military Entrepreneurship Program that provides support and educational resources to veteran and military spouse owned small businesses; the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program and the Military Spouse Fellowship Programs, innovative 12-week programs that provide transitioning service members with professional training and hands-on experience in the civilian workforce; and the AWS Military Apprenticeship program that helps members of the military community gain valuable skills through on-the-job training, without needing any previous technical experience.
Veteran initiatives are extended to diverse suppliers who want to sell their products on Amazon. More than half of all items sold on Amazon worldwide are from small and medium-sized businesses. In 2019 Amazon's Military Entrepreneurship Program (MEP) was formed by the Amazon Global Military Affairs team. The Military Entrepreneurship Program provides resources, training, and support to Service-Disabled/Veteran-Owned Businesses (SD/VOBs) and Military Spouse-Owned Businesses to become sellers on Amazon. Through MEP’s outreach they offer additional resources for entrepreneurs that want to start a business or startup through Amazon. With Amazon Global Military Affairs as a new NVBDC Corporate Member, the MEP outreach is extended to NVBDC Certified Service-Disabled/Veteran-Owned Businesses (SD/VOBs). Amazon Business is also participating with National Veteran Business Development Council to offer further access and opportunities to NVBDC Certified Service-Disabled/Veteran-Owned Businesses. This partnership contributes to helping Veteran business owners launch as successful sellers on Amazon Business and potentially reach millions of business customers.
Amazon promotes its Veteran business success stories on their website page Military Family Small Businesses. One of the success stories is about U.S. Marine Corps veteran Paul Miller who served active duty for 11 years as a drill instructor, a combat photographer, and a water survival instructor. He started his business, Cozy Phones, in 2015 and has sold hundreds of thousands of units, thanks to the Military Entrepreneurship Program. Paul's son Jake Miller, a marine veteran, followed in his father's footsteps with the MEP and launched his own Amazon small business called Coastline Vine. In the first year, Jake's line of wine tumblers and wine growlers made tens of thousands of dollars, allowing him to focus on the business full time. "There are a lot of stories about veterans who get out of the service and struggle. The military taught me to be confident, take the initiative, and follow through – and Amazon allowed me to do that," said Jake Miller.
Amazon Business’s investment in infrastructure, tools, and services has made starting your own business easy. Amazon Business has empowered more than 1.9 million US small-and-medium-sized businesses, content creators, and developers, including Veteran-Owned Businesses (VOBs). Independent small and medium-sized retailers make up more than half of sales in Amazon's stores, and in 2018 alone tallied $160 billion in revenue.
Amazon Global Military Affairs is excited to partner with National Veteran Business Development Council (NVBDC), the leading Veteran-Owned Business Certification organization, to support MEP's goals. This partnership will continue to benefit the military community and allow customers to purchase from Veteran owned businesses.
National Veteran Business Development Council (NVBDC) is honored to add Amazon Global Military Affairs to its prestigious roster of corporations that share our mission of helping Veteran Owned Businesses succeed. This is an excellent opportunity for NVBDC Certified SD/VOBs to learn directly from the experts at Amazon and discover new ways to adapt and grow their businesses. Amazon's MEP program has extensive support to learn the basics of launching a business on Amazon, making your first sale, and exposure to millions of consumers. To learn more about these opportunities, visit Amazon Military
"We seek to improve the lives of veterans by taking a leadership role in addressing the community’s biggest challenges. For many, the challenge is making a smooth transition to a rewarding civilian career. And for those veterans and military spouses that seek to run their own business, we offer a program focused on the unique veteran challenges and dedicated to helping veterans succeed as entrepreneurs.” John Quintas, Managing Director, Amazon Global Military Affairs
Veteran-focused Diversity Programs are an $80 billion market in the United States. Other corporations that support NVBDC Certified SD/VOBs include the 28 member corporations of the Billion Dollar Roundtable. NVBDC is the only veteran certification organization to meet the Billion Dollar Roundtable (BDR) audit standards and match their mission to drive supplier diversity excellence.
"We are continually expanding NVBDC opportunities for our Certified Service-Disabled / Veteran Owned Businesses. With the addition of Amazon Military as a new corporate member, we are proud to offer the opportunities they bring to our certified service disabled and veteran owned businesses. NVBDC is always available to answer your questions on the value and necessity of becoming certified." Said Brigadier General (ret) Dick Miller, President, NVBDC.
For more information on this opportunity with Amazon and learn how to become an NVBDC Certified SD/VOB additional support is available. Please feel free to reach out to NVBDC by visiting our website: www.nvbdc.org or contacting us directly: (888) CERTIFIED.
NVBDC MISSION:
NVBDC is the only Veteran Owned Business Certification organization developed by Veterans, for Veterans. The purpose is to provide a credible and reliable certifying authority for all size businesses ensuring that valid documentation exists of Veteran ownership and control.
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