National Veterans Small Business Week 2025

Uplifting Those Who Serve

November 3rd through the 7th, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) is celebrating National Veterans Small Business Week. Throughout the week, DCEO, through its office of Office of Economic Empowerment (OE3), will be uplifting Veterans businesses and entrepreneurs across Illinois through a dynamic 3-day webinar series. 

• Thrivent Veterans Resource Webinar | Tuesday, November 4 | 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
  Join Thrivent for a webinar as they share programs and financial resources for Veterans and Veteran businesses.
• City of Chicago’s Veterans Resource Web | Wednesday, November 5 | 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
  Join the City of Chicago’s Office of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection for a webinar sharing Veteran business resources and programs.
• Wisconsin Women Business Development Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) Resource Webinar | November 6 | 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
  Join the Wisconsin Women Business Development Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) as their Illinois State Veterans Outreach Director share initiatives and programs for Veterans.
  *WWBIC serves Wisconsin and Illinois area Veterans.

Make sure to register!

• IDES Veteran Services
• SBA’s Boots to Business Program for Veterans
• Veterans Business Program (VBP)
• Entrepreneurship Services for Veterans
• Veteran Business Owners Resources
• SCORE Veteran Resources
• Department of Defense Veteran Services

Make sure to follow @DCEOIllinois on all social platforms for updates.

Be sure to use the official hashtags in order amplify the movement: #NationalVeteransWeek

#ILVetsWeek

#NationalVeteransWeek

Follow, Tag & RT DCEO and your favorite Veteran-owned businesses to show support:

• Use visuals like the provided graphics or a photo of you at your favorite Veteran-owned business
• Make it your own! Tailor content to your stakeholders.