Top 20 Cities for Veteran Entrepreneurs was originally published on DiversityComm.
In their annual study, the PenFed Foundation has compiled a list of the top 20 cities for veteran entrepreneurs. The foundation’s Veteran Entrepreneur Investment Program (VEIP), which supports veteran-owned startups and businesses through education, preparation and network access, conducted the study in partnership with Edelman Intelligence.
“The military community’s resilience and entrepreneurial spirit is invaluable for our nation’s business sector. That’s why the PenFed Foundation is proud to commission this study for the fourth year in a row, highlighting the cities that are making strides to support veteran businesses,” said PenFed Foundation President Andrea McCarren. “We want to help cities across theUnited States understand which environments are best suited for military veterans to start and grow businesses and inspire city leaders to take the actions needed to support veteran entrepreneurs.”
The study analyzed four main categories for each city: livability, economic growth, support for veterans and ability to start a business. This year’s edition put less emphasis on COVID-related factors and increased focus on livability and economic factors. The study used a custom scoring algorithm based on a robust set of quantitative data from existing Pen-Fed partners and openly available data sources to paint the complete picture of veteran support, city characteristics and entrepreneurship ability across the U.S. The cities were evaluated based on 390 metropolitan statistical areas.
2023 Top 20 Cities for Veteran Entrepreneurs:
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Austin-Round Rock, Texas
- Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisconsin
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Washington
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio
- Rapid City, South Dakota
- Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas
- Kansas City, Missouri
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York and New Jersey
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, Virginia
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida
- Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas
- McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Georgia
- Columbus, Ohio
- San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas
- Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Illinois
“Veteran-owned businesses often hire more veterans, so supporting veteran entrepreneurs provides more jobs and opportunities for the greater military community, who have served as PenFed’s core field of membership since 1935,” said PenFed Credit Union President/CEO and PenFed Foundation CEO James Schenck.
