James Schmeling

The Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust has granted James Schmeling at the Burton Blatt Institute $35,000 as Principal Investigator and the William Bingham Foundation has granted Schmeling as $50,000 as PI, to continue BBI's partnership with the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University to conduct its Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV). The EBV offers cutting-edge, experiential training in small business management and entrepreneurship to U.S. military veterans disabled as a result of their service to their country. The EBV program was founded in the Whitman School at Syracuse University in 2007 and has since expanded to the Anderson School of Management at UCLA, Florida State University’s College of Business, the Mays Business School at Texas A&M and the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University. Sponsorship of BBI supports the institute’s work with each of the five participating universities related to the disability components of the program. BBI provides disability-related curriculum, training and resources for veterans enrolled in the program at each campus. BBI staff and partners deliver training, benefit planning and consultation to the participating veterans before, during and after each session to assist them in making informed decisions about business goals and business incentives and resources available to entrepreneurs with disabilities or employers that hire workers with disabilities. The program provides information to veterans about disability benefits and incentives available to them to facilitate business start-up, including tax credits and deductions available to hire and accommodate other disabled veterans when businesses grow. BBI will apply its expertise as a problem solver and innovator in the advancement of employment goals for individuals with disabilities to the community of veterans who pursue self-employment. Both the Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust and the William Bingham Foundations’s support for this program allows BBI to continue to work at the intersection of disability, veteran’s issues and self-employment. Schmeling is Chief Operating Officer of the Burton Blatt Institute, and earned his BA from Iowa State University and his JD from The University of Iowa College of Law. BBI fosters public-private dialogue to advance the civic, economic and social participation of persons with disabilities in a global society. The institute takes its name from Burton Blatt (1927–85), a pioneer in humanizing services for people with disabilities. BBI currently has offices in Syracuse; New York City; Washington, D.C.; Atlanta; and Tel Aviv.