(Credit: Courtesy McNulty Center, 2022)
(Credit: Courtesy the McNulty Veteran Business Center, 2022)
The McNulty Veteran Business Center awarded Nicholas Campbell and Richard Newkirk Veteran Entrepreneurs of the Year honors at the center’s inaugural awards gala. The pair launched their defense contracting firm Stonewall Defense in 2015, and since then the company has secured $4 million in government contracts while expanding from two to nine employees.
Campbell said the company is planning for additional growth in 2023 as part of their efforts to “continue bringing in, and retaining, high-paying jobs to the Capital Region.”
Ray Gagnon, a retired Marine Corps veteran, took home the Veteran Business Owner Award. Gagnon is the president of Business Operational Success Systems, a training and consulting company, and JDog Junk Removal & Hauling.
“I tout [the McNulty Center] every day, everywhere I go. No one does a better job of sharing the basic information that a vet needs to operate their business,” he said during his acceptance speech.
The McNulty center held its inaugural award celebration on Thursday Oct. 27 honoring individuals who have played key roles in the organization’s development and recognizing successful “vetreprenuers” who have been assisted by the center.
[Read our coverage of veteran business news here.]
The center positions itself as a one-stop shop for aspiring veteran entrepreneurs and small business owners. Kathy Caruso, the executive director of the center, says one of the organization’s most popular programs is Boots to Business, an eight-module class that provides an introduction to small business ownership. Other available services include training, workshops, counseling, mentoring, and referrals.
All of these resources are provided at no cost, and while the center is supported by a grant from the Small Business Administration, it only covers about 70% of the organization’s operating expenses. The remainder is generated through fundraising.
One of the center’s biggest supporters has been the Ann Allen Cetrino Family Foundation which has gifted $25,000 in each of the past three years.
The Foundation’s Tom Cetrino, whose father served as a marine in World War II, was named Philanthropist of the Year.
The night’s other honorees included Peter Gannon, who received the Founder Award for his role in helping create the McNulty Center in 2014, and Kateri Rhatigan, owner of Higher Place Yoga, who received the Military Spouse Business Owner award.
The evening’s first honoree was U.S. Representative Mike McNulty, who has been a champion of veteran causes throughout his lifetime of public service. The center takes its name from him.
“I’ve been to a lot of places where the opportunities we have here are not possible. We owe that to our veterans," he said.
As home to one of 22 federal Veteran Business Outreach Centers in the country, the Watervliet-based McNulty Center provides business training to veterans and military spouses who are interested in starting or growing a small business.
They counseled 1,151 clients in the past year. The VBOC won a 2022 Excellence in Service recipient by the Small Business Administration.