INDIANA – Indiana Governor Mike Braun today announced a new program that prepares veterans and military-connected leaders to buy, run, and grow existing Indiana businesses. The program, Pass the Guidon: Veteran ETA Cohort, advances the Governor’s Keep IN initiative that helps keep Hoosier businesses, jobs, and talent anchored in Indiana.
“Hoosier veterans are capable leaders with a proven commitment to serve that makes them perfect candidates to lead Indiana’s small businesses,” said Gov. Braun. “When a veteran steps in to buy a business that might otherwise close, the jobs stay here, the business stays here, and Indiana gets stronger.”
More than half of Indiana businesses are owned by people aged 55 or older, and many have no succession plan. When those businesses close, communities lose jobs, services, and tax base. Pass the Guidon is a program from VentureVets and powered by the Indiana Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (OEI) that connects that need with a ready pool of leaders who already know how to take command of an existing operation and lead it forward.
“Entrepreneurship does not always start with a blank page. Buying and growing an established company is one of the fastest ways to build lasting ownership in Indiana, and veterans are ready to take on that opportunity,” said Indiana Secretary of Commerce Chuck Goodrich.
The part-time cohort is built for working professionals. It opens with an in-person kickoff led by Courtney Zaugg of VentureVets and John Panaccione of VETtoCEO and moves through four modules: finding the right business, due diligence on financials and contracts, the purchase agreement and legal process, and the franchise path. Participants learn from business brokers, CPAs, bankers, acquisition attorneys, SBA lenders, and veteran franchise owners. The cohort meets every other week in the evening to work through real case studies and closes with an in-person capstone conference.
“In the military, passing the guidon is how command changes hands. The unit keeps its colors, its people, and its mission. That is what we want for Indiana’s small businesses,” said Courtney Zaugg, co-founder and managing partner of VentureVets. “Our veterans are ready to take command. This cohort gives them the playbook, the network and the confidence to do it here in Indiana.”
Pass the Guidon is delivered with partners including VETtoCEO and 16 Tech. The first cohort begins in January 2027 and is open to veterans and military-connected leaders. Learn more and apply online by November 30, 2026.
