“Of the more than 200,000 U.S. service members who transition to civilian life each year, many are entrepreneurially minded, interested in running and growing their own businesses,” said Michael J. Winter, ESG Executive at Bank of America. “Through our Veteran Entrepreneur Lending Program and our CDFI partners, we’re helping connect veteran-owned businesses to the affordable capital they need to succeed.”
Recently, Industry Standard USA, LLC was awarded a five-year contract to care for the Long Island National VA Cemetery in Farmingdale, with a special charge to raise and realign all the veteran headstones—more than 350,000 memorials in total. With funding from the Excelsior Growth Fund, Chris was able to hire the 13 new employees he needed to complete the large and meaningful contract.
“Having the opportunity to fulfill contracts like Farmingdale and honor my brothers and sisters-in-arms is why I was inspired to start Industry Standard,” said Chris. “I really am so grateful to Bank of America and Excelsior Growth Fund—not only for their financial support that allowed us to scale Industry Standard, which is now a five million dollar company, but also for their commitment to creating opportunities for veteran entrepreneurs like me.”