Project OpportunitySM - Logo

Active duty military and veterans to receive entrepreneurship training

CFES Grant Award Photo

Photo Left to Right: Erica Joseph, President Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, Joe Giordano, Founder Project OpportunitySM, Gregory Padgham, Executive Director Tri-County Council for Lower Eastern Shore, Heather Mahler, Program Director Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore

Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore

SALISBURY, MD., February 20, 2019 – Project OpportunitySM, an entrepreneurship training program for active military and veterans in the State of Maryland, announced today that it has received $1,300 grant from the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore to conduct two workshops for Project OpportunitySM graduates, veteran small business owners, and agencies and organizations that support veteran activities and programs.

These two workshops will assist agencies and organizations that serve veterans by providing information, tips, and guidance to improve their grant writing skills and to provide Project OpportunitySM graduates and veteran small business owners with improved knowledge of Social Media and how to utilize it to grow their business.

“The Community Foundation is excited to support Project OpportunitySM and the veterans it serves,” states Community Foundation President Erica Joseph. “Grants like this have a ripple effect through our community – providing training, business growth, and economic impact in our region.”

 “Funding for Project OpportunitySM is key to our success in supporting military personnel transitioning to the business world as they learn what it takes to start their own businesses,” said Army Master Sgt. (retired) and founder of Project OpportunitySM, Joe Giordano. “We are very grateful to the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore for their generous grant to help us do just that.”

Established 2010, Project OpportunitySM has graduated more than 200 military personnel and veterans from classes in the Eastern Shore, Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Howard, Prince George’s and St Mary’s counties and Baltimore City.

About Project Opportunity

Project OpportunitySM is a free entrepreneurship training program for active military and veterans who want to start their own businesses. The ten-week (30 hour) intensive course is designed to prepare veterans to research and complete a business plan. Founded on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 2010, Project OpportunitySM has since expanded to Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Howard, Prince George’s and St Mary’s counties and Baltimore City.  Contributions from county economic development authorities, local banks and private foundations help ensure that the classes are free to veteran participants.

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Project OpportunitySM Awarded Grant from Allegis Group Foundation

Allegis Group

SALISBURY, MD., Feb 1, 2019 – Project OpportunitySM, an entrepreneurship training program for active duty military, reserve personnel, and veterans who reside or are stationed in Maryland, announced today that it has received a grant from Allegis Group, the global leader in talent solutions, to support the Anne Arundel Spring 2019 Class. Allegis Group is an organization committed to creating opportunity – within its own walls as well as in the community.

“Funding for Project OpportunitySM is key to our success in supporting military personnel transitioning to the business world as they learn what it takes to start their own businesses,” said Army Master Sgt. (retired) and founder of Project OpportunitySM, Joe Giordano. “We are very grateful to Allegis Group for their generous grant to help us do just that.”

Established 2010, Project OpportunitySM has graduated more than 200 military personnel and veterans from classes held throughout Maryland.

About Project Opportunity

Project OpportunitySM is a free entrepreneurship training program for active military and veterans who want to start their own businesses. The ten-week (30 hour) intensive course is designed to prepare veterans to research and complete a business plan. Founded on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 2010, Project OpportunitySM has since expanded to Annapolis, Baltimore, Columbia, Glen Burnie, Prince George’s County and Southern Maryland. Contributions from county economic development authorities, local banks, fraternal organizations and private foundations help ensure that the classes are free to veteran participants.

Project OpportunitySM - Logo

Putting Vets in Business – Bay Times Feature

This story was written by Shelby Conrad for the Bay Weekly. This article is posted with permission and the original article can be read here: Bay Weekly

Ideas may have the power to change the world, but they don’t become reality through wishful thinking. They take hard work.

Joe Giordano knows just how much work.

He’s the founder of Project OpportunitySM, a program to help veterans turn their ideas into reality. Giordano isn’t just an idea veteran; he’s a military veteran, too.

“I founded Project OpportunitySM in 2010 because of the high unemployment rate among veterans,” Giordano said. “I wanted to give them an alternative to traditional employment.”

His 10-week, 30-hour intensive course is an entrepreneur-training program to help veterans start their own business. The only prerequisite is to have a solid business idea.

The best part? It’s free.

The course ranges from business plans to money management and accounting. The evolving program recently added social-media marketing and sales to the syllabus.

Chuck Davis, a 2014 Project OpportunitySM graduate in Glen Burnie, calls the class, “the ultimate roadmap to becoming an entrepreneur.” His business, Kiss My Glass Window Cleaners, has continued to grow since he took the course.