– Originally posted on November 24th, 2013 by SHANTEÉ WOODARDS for the Capital Gazette. You can read the original article here.

Tim Longmire wants to start a business that eventually provides 24-hour grooming and other services to dogs.

First, he needs a storefront. And financing. And a bunch of other things he wasn’t sure about until he entered Project Opportunity. The Navy veteran is part of the first Annapolis group to be involved in a 10-week program that teaches veterans how to become entrepreneurs. As a result, he and his wife plan to move forward with Bark, Bathe, Board & Beyond by 2015 at the latest.

“(The program) had very knowledgeable people in the field and you could ask them anything you wanted. You didn’t have to sit on the phone,” said Longmire, an Arnold resident who was once stationed at Pearl Harbor. He added that he thinks his military training prepared him for the entrepreneurial lifestyle.

“One of the key things that was always beaten in my head is details, details, details. You’ve got to pay attention to details and you’ve got to adapt.”

In 2010, Consulting, Training, and Development Services launched Project Opportunity^SM as a way to help veterans who wanted to start a business on the Eastern Shore. Since then, 26 have completed the program.

This year, the Annapolis Economic Development Corp. partnered with Consulting, Training, and Development Services and the state Technology Development Corp. to offer the free program locally. Eighty veterans applied and that was later whittled down to the 11 who completed the courses. Two more events are being planned in the county, and they will launch in the winter and spring.

Statistics show that veteran-owned firms have annual sales of $1.2 trillion, nearly 6 million employees and a payroll of about $210 billion. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2012 report on veteran-owned firms found that veterans represented 9 percent of all companies in the country in 2007, the latest statistics available. That included roughly 54,000 firms in Maryland with $25 million in sales, according to the report.

At last week’s graduation ceremony at Loews Annapolis, Project Opportunity^SM veterans were encouraged to look to Marine Maj. Rob Dyer for inspiration.

The Annapolis resident launched RuckPack — a vitamin and energy shot — with his military friends. After a series of challenges, he landed on ABC’s Shark Tank last year. He gained a $150,000 deal with Kevin O’Leary and Robert Herjavec getting a 20 percent stake in the company.

Since then, the company has made $500,000 and has signed a national deal with Walgreens.

Still, his sleepless nights have not ended, and he encouraged Project Opportunity^SM participants not to give up their day jobs immediately. He continues to teach at the Naval Academy.

“You stay flexible and you grind. You grind like nobody else can because nobody else knows what veteran life is like,” said Dyer, who was the keynote speaker at Project Opportunity’s graduation ceremony.

“If somebody says ‘Man, this is tough,’ this isn’t boot camp tough. … It’s not that bad. I didn’t even get shot at today, yet. When that becomes your fallback matrix, you figure out you can do anything.”

Brenda Dilts led the Project Opportunity^SM sessions, which were held on Tuesday evenings at Maryland Hall. Each night included a guest speaker, as well as information on marketing, financing and management. The goal was to get participants to apply what they learned to their own business plan.

Their final project was to whittle their goals down to a three- to five-minute pitch speech, which they delivered at the graduation ceremony. In front of family and friends, they pitched plans that included nanny services, cellular phones, technical consultation and diabetes research.

Navy veteran Jimmie Bell’s signature phrase “Fluck It” is being sold on T-shirts, jackets and other apparel through his website. He aims to use it to encourage positive thinking among teenagers and other young people.

“My message to them is ‘fluck it,’?” Bell said in his pitch speech. “You control your destiny. You control what happens to you. If you want to do something, say you’re going to do it. Put the ball in motion and start making it happen. Fluck it, no matter what somebody tells you.”

The following article was originally written by Emilie Eastman on Monday, March 4, 2013, For The Capital. The original article can be found online here: Capital Gazette – Article on Project Opportunity.

Joe Giordano says it’s a no brainer.

The retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant started Project Opportunity^SM to provide military veterans free business startup training. Through a 10-week program based off the NxLeveL for Entrepreneurs business program, Maryland veterans will research, develop and eventually create their own businesses.

“I think it’s something they’ve earned,” Giordano said.

Giordano launched his entrepreneur program three years ago and has 35 graduates. This spring, Project Opportunity^SM is expanding from the nine counties of the Eastern Shore where it began to Columbia and Southern Maryland, reaching Annapolis by the end of the summer.

Annapolis Economic Development Corp. is partnering with Project Opportunity’s Annapolis branch. She said the program could make a significant impact on the city that is home to the U.S. Naval Academy and scores of retired veterans.

“I hope to see every veteran who goes through Project Opportunity^SM in Annapolis ultimately start their own business,” said AEDC CEO Lara Fritts. “We hope they’ll be able to grow here.”

Fritts, whose husband and father are veterans, said her group “really liked the veteran component to this, and knowing Joe was a veteran himself made it a great opportunity.”

Giordano owns Consulting, Training, and Development Services . When he started Project Opportunity^SM, he was looking for veterans who were “focused and knew what type of business they would like to start,” he said.

He wanted to give them the tools they needed to succeed because, “you can’t start a business without a business plan,” he said.

Giordano is expanding his program beyond the Bay Bridge after veterans across the state requested classes closer to their homes, he said. The three new programs are already funded, including textbooks for the participants.

The graduates of Project Opportunity^SM have developed or expanded business plans that run the gamut, including a website development company, a clothing design business, a private investigation and security company, a bakery and a dog-breeding business, Giordano said. Participants range in age from 20 to 60 and are split almost evenly between male and female, he said.

Adrian Holmes said Giordano’s program is rigorous. The 50-year-old Ridgely resident served in the Air Force for 15 years. She said Project Opportunity^SM is challenging but rewarding.

“When I met Joe … he was very tough,” she said. “He wouldn’t even send us classwork until we went to the first class.”

Holmes partnered with another Project Opportunity^SM participant, Jermaine Anderson, 40, of Cambridge. They merged their businesses to create TNT Moving and Cleaning by Design

The firm offers moving and interior design services. The merger gives clients more bang for their buck because people who are moving often need help designing or re-designing, Holmes said.

TNT currently provides services across Maryland and has even been as far as Connecticut, Texas and Florida, she said.

Holmes said the program sends an important message.

“I think this program epitomizes who veterans are as citizens — their creativity and their camaraderie,” she said. “When we … run our businesses, we go to it like we’re going to Iraq. That’s just how we roll.”

Anderson said the program is based on universal principles and forces participants to adopt an entrepreneurial outlook.

“I think [Project Opportunity] should be a national program,” he said.

Graduating is not a simple feat. The programs requiring about 15 hours of homework per week. Before entering, Giordano gives interested veterans a 45-minute screening assessment.

Then, he chooses the best candidates. While some candidates are put on a waiting list, Giordano said they can re-apply.

Giordano has high standards for enrollees.

“They call me a drill sergeant because I work them hard,” he said. “But I think by the end of 10 weeks, when they see their business plan come together, they appreciate the time and effort they put into it.”