Battle to business: the talent pool of military veterans is deep, so why don't more of them own their own companies?

• Author: Maurer, Kevin
• Position: NC TREND: Entrepreneurs

After World War II, almost half of veterans owned and operated businesses, according to Dean Bundschu, executive director of Bunker Labs in North Carolina.

"Now, today's 9/11 generation, that number is down to 4.5%," Bundschu says in a phone interview from his office at Research Triangle Park. "What Bunker Labs is trying to do is turn that around."

Bunker Labs is a nonprofit Chicago-based accelerator program for veterans interested in being entrepreneurs. It has 13 chapters in different cities spanning from New York to San Francisco. Bunker Labs supported 48 businesses in North Carolina last year, from "an internet of things" company that produces wireless sensors to a winery.

In April, it is launching Bunker Labs Fayetteville in partnership with Fayetteville Technical Community College with plans for expansion in Wilmington and Charlotte. Veterans begin with a "bunker in a box" program, a self-taught course, before moving on to 10 weeks of night classes.

"Hopefully, we get to the point where we tell them their idea is feasible and worth pursuing or the idea sucks," Bundschu says. Veterans who graduate from the 10-week program with a successful plan move on to a continuing education program called CEO Circle.

A former infantry officer, Bundschu served eight years in the U.S. Army, including a tour in Iraq. He left to work with veterans transitioning out of the military for Canada-based Orion International, but he always wanted to start his own business. He launched a high-school sports recruiting website (it is no longer operating) and later was invited to participate in Patriot Boot Camp, another program to help veterans find mentors, investors and other entrepreneurs. Bundschu opened the...