This posting addresses the fastest growing US labor category known as Not-in-Labor-Force.  Highlights include:

• 89 million people are now in an official government labor category called Not-in-Labor-Force (NiLF).  NiLF people can work but chose not to work.
• By 2020, given current trends, those in the NiLF will outnumber all the people in the private sector work force.  The US economy cannot sustain the overhead of people that can but do not work.
• Sooner or later, the American people will figure out that the current way our government calculates unemployment is seriously flawed.  Under the current system it is theoretically possible for the US to have a zero rate of unemployment while simultaneously having zero people employed in the labor force.

According to the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)[1] with jobs are “employed”, people who do not have jobs and are looking for jobs are “unemployed”, and people who are able to work but choose not to work are “not in labor force”. The BLS reports that Not-in-Labor-Force consists mainly of postsecondary school students, homemakers, retired, active duty military, those confined to institutions such as nursing homes and prisons, and those who have no job and are not looking for one (e.g., welfare recipients).

Not-in-Labor-Force is the second largest and fastest growing of the five segments of the US labor force.

Non-Working Population:

1. Not-in-Labor-Force (can work but not looking): 89 million

2. Cannot Work Force (children, disabled, etc.): 76 million

3. Unemployed Labor Force (looking for work):  22 million

Working Population:

1. Private Sector Labor Force: 111 million

2. Government Labor Force (federal, state, local): 25 million

As of 1 May 2012, 88,879,000 were in the NiLF.  As shown above, over the last dozen years, NiLF has grown by 27% (growth rate of 2.3% per year) compared to 0% growth in the private sector labor force.

In the last 12 months, a period where the US economy showed positive signs of recovery, over 2.6 million more people[2] joined the ranks of the NiLF—an increase of 3.0%.   If these recent trends continue, NiLF will exceed the private sector labor force by year 2020.  Equally alarming, the BLS reports that 93% of the people in the NiLF currently do not want and are not looking for a job.

It is imperative that the current upward growth in NiLF be reversed and the private sector labor force expanded in order for America to prosper. Today, 29% of the American people in the private sector labor force have to financially support, via taxes or familial obligations, the 81% who are in the non-working population or work for the government.   Millions of small businesses are the only sensible way to increase America’s private sector—the US economy’s breadwinner.  Since the beginning of this decade, small business produced 95% of all new private sector jobs (see Employment Scoreboard).  The Jobenomics goal is to create 20 million new private sector jobs by 2020 with emphasis on small, emerging and self-employed businesses.

The US government has a much more obtuse, confusing and benign way of calculating the working population versus the non-working population.  Their calculations are represented by the “Labor Force Participation Rate” (shown below).   The BLS’ Labor Force Participation Rate represents the number of workers (employed and unemployed looking for work) as a percentage of the so-called “Civilian Noninstitutional Population”.

As of 1 May 2012, the BLS’ Civilian Noninstitutional Population totaled 247,784,000 out of the total US population of 313,300,000 people.  247,784,000 represents the total number of employed (111M private sector, 25M government), unemployed (22M) and NiLF (89M).   The 76 million citizens that cannot work (children, disabled, etc.) are not included in the Civilian Noninstitutional Population.  Today, 154,365,000 people are officially in the labor pool (everyone except the 89M in the NiLF) of 247,784,000 people, which produces a Labor Force Participation Rate of 63.6%.

As shown by the Labor Force Participation Rate graph, the number of working people has decreased steadily as a percentage of the total people that can work to a low not see since 1981.   While the Great Recession in 2008/09 exacerbated the situation, the decline started in the boom years of the early 2000s.  The primary reason for the dramatic drop is largely due to those that simply have quit looking for work and are now categorized as Not-in-Labor-Force.

From a Jobenomics perspective, the BLS’ NiLF numbers should be combined with the BLS’s Total Unemployed (U6) number for a more accurate picture of idled workers.  The American public needs a broader measure of the “functionally unemployed”.   If the 89M NiLF and the 22M unemployed were combined, the total number of functionally unemployed would be 111 million Americans for a functionally-unemployed rate of 35%.

Sooner or later, the American people will figure out that the current way our government calculates unemployment is seriously flawed.  Under the current system, it is theoretically possible for the US to have a zero rate of unemployment while simultaneously having zero people employed in the labor force.  Stated another way, since NiLF workers are not counted as unemployed, the official unemployment rate could theoretically be zero if all the current unemployed people simply quit looking for work and joined those in the NiLF.

Not-in-Labor-Force demographics are shown below.

In terms of age, Not-in-Labor-Force includes 47 million people 55 years or older (53%), 23 million 25 to 54 year olds, and 18 million 16 to 24 year olds.  In terms of gender, Not-in-Labor-Force includes 53.4 million women (60%) and 35.5 million men (40%).

Prospects for future employment for the 47 million NiLF people aged 55+ is very dim.  Prior to the Great Recession of 2008, approximately half of the baby-boomer generation had sufficient funds (mainly equity in their homes, stocks and savings) to retire.  Today, it is estimated that less than 10% percentage have sufficient funds to retire since the value of their home is much lower, and many nearing retirement exited the stock market at its low point.  Consequently, a significant number of baby-boomers are facing a conundrum of needing to work with few available jobs.

Prospects for employment for the 41 million Not-in-Labor-Force people aged 16 to 54 has improved slightly in the last several months but is still three times harder finding a job than it was a decade according to BLS Unemployment and Jobs Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLT[2]) surveys.

In December 2001, BLS data indicates that there were 1.1 unemployed workers for every job opening.  At the height of the Great Recession, the peak reached 6.4.  Today 3.4 unemployed workers compete for every job opening.  It is important to realize that this is calculated on the “officially” unemployed number (12.5 million as of 1 May 2012).  If the Jobenomics functionally unemployed number of 111 million (the combination of the BLS’s 89M NiLF and 22M Total Unemployed) were included, 30 workers would have to compete for every opening.  Consequently, with odds like this, it is understandable why many people Not-in-Labor-Force have simply given up looking for work.

The BLS states that NiLF consists mainly of students, homemakers, retired, active duty military, institutionally confined, and those who have no job and are not looking for one).  Unfortunately, little data is provided the magnitude in each of these groups.

Anecdotally, one can conclude that the majority of the people are entitlement and welfare recipients.  The fact that 45 million Americans accept food stamps (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP) is antidotal evidence that the welfare pool is quite large.  According to the US Department of Agriculture[3], “in fiscal year 2011, on average, SNAP provided $134 per person to 44.7 million individuals in 21.1 million households each month.”  In addition to food stamps, the NiLF are major recipients of social security (51 million), Medicare (45 million), Medicaid (59 million), and unemployment benefits (8 million).

The second largest NiLF is postsecondary school students which number 21,588,124 in the fall of 2010 (19M undergraduate and 3M graduate), according to the US Department of Education[4].  The US has approximately 7200 Title IV postsecondary institutions including community colleges and universities.  Title IV institutions have a written agreement with the Department of Education that allows the institution to participate in federal student financial assistance programs.  The Department of Education also reports[5] that 82% of first-time undergraduate students received financial aid from the government.  3 million more students are enrolled today than were just prior to the Great Recession in 2007.  Many students enroll to enhance their prospects of getting a job or in lieu of having a job.  While Jobenomics endorses the value of a good education, one has to be concerned that jobs have to be available for postsecondary school graduates as well as the spiraling costs of postsecondary tuition.

Unemployment rates for recent college graduates are roughly equal to the national unemployment rate of 9%.  So, getting a degree does not necessarily guarantee a job or a good salary.

According to the Georgetown Hard Times: College Majors Unemployment and Earnings: Not All College Degrees Are Created Equal[6] study states that the risk of unemployment among recent college graduates depends largely on their major. Unemployment/ earnings figures for recent health, engineering and arts graduates are 5.4%/$43,000, 7.5%/$55,000 and 11.1%/$30,000 respectively. While the Georgetown study endorses a college education, it cautions students to seriously weigh the benefits verses the costs.

Today, the average student loan debt is $25,000, but with rising tuitions $50,000 is a more reasonable figure for future graduates. Many students have a liaise faire about paying off loans or expecting loan forgiveness.  The phenomenon of compound interest works on student loans.  Unpaid $25,000 loans can compound to double or triple the original amount.  For those expecting a federal government loan forgiveness program, forget it.  Outstanding student loans now top $1 trillion, exceeding the total amount of credit card debt. Given the $15 trillion national debt, lawmakers are unlikely to forgive much.

The third major group is homemakers—mostly women.  There are various estimates of the number of American homemakers but the general estimates ranges from 15 to 25 million.

Active duty military and incarcerated prisoners are the next largest categories, but are significantly smaller in size in comparisons to the groups discussed above.  According to the 2012 Congressional Authorizations[7], active duty end strengths are 1.4 million personnel.   According to the US Department of Justice[8] state and federal correctional authorities had jurisdiction over 1,612,395 prisoners as of the beginning of 2011 (latest data available as of Feb 2012).

In conclusion, NiLF is a major problem for America.  It is a problem that has largely hid in the shadows.  As more and more Americans become aware of the ramifications of the non-working population overpowering the working population, solutions will have to be found.  Jobenomics goal of 20 million new private sector jobs by year 2020 may be as good a place to start as any.

Jobenomics received numerous positive comments about the Functionally Unemployed mentioned in several of our recent articles (Unemployment Scoreboard: Feb 2012, and 35% “Functionally” Unemployed Rate).

Jobenomics defines functional unemployment as the total number of underemployed, unemployed and not-in-labor-force as reported by the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  In plain English, the ranks of the functionally unemployed includes US citizens currently: (1) underemployed with marginal or part-time jobs, (2) unemployed with no job yet still looking, and (3) unemployed with no job and not looking.  This third category is by far the largest group as well as the group that is most overlooked and under-reported.

The Jobenomics functional unemployment number (111 million) consists of the BLS’ U6 unemployment number (23 million) and the BLS’ “Not in Labor Force” number (88 million).   111 million functionally unemployed out of a total US population of 312 million yields a functional unemployment rate of 36%.

• The BLS defines U6 as “the total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.”
• The BLS defines not-in-labor-force in the following manner: “the US labor force is made up of the employed and the unemployed.  The remainder—those who have no job and are not looking for one—are counted as ‘not in the labor force.’”

Jobenomics acknowledges the gray areas between working and not working, and in-the-labor-force and not-in-labor-force.   For example, approximately 20 million postsecondary school (college) students are considered not in the labor force.  Nevertheless, most students do not work and are being supported by either familial or government sources.  This is also true of the general non-working population.  If a person is able to work but is not working, that person has to be supported by someone.  With the exception a few independently wealthy people, most non-workers are supported by families or government.  If they are working, they are likely to be independent of government handouts and likely paying taxes to support government programs and services.

As shown above, American decision-makers, opinion-leaders as well as the American public need a complete picture of all non-workers in order to formulate a viable jobs creation, economic and welfare strategy.  A nation’s economic health depends on a proper balance of the employed and unemployed.  Focusing on narrowly defined groups inhibits good decision-making.  To put the functional unemployment picture into better perspective, one must examine recent trends.

Prior to year 2000, the civilian labor force and the functionally unemployed usually increased in unison in relation to America’s ever growing population.

Since year 2000, the US civilian labor force grew by 11.1 million people or 8%.   During this same period of time, the functional unemployment number grew three times as fast (32 million or 40%) in relation to the civilian labor force.

In the last five years, since the Great Recession of 2008, functional unemployment grew 17% (16.27 million) while the civilian labor force lost -0.15% (-231,000).  If adjusted for population growth (8.2 million or 2.7%), the trends for the last five years would even paint a more austere picture.

If these trends continue unabated in the future, the functionally unemployed could equal the civilian labor force by 2021.

Our previous article (Unemployment Scoreboard: Feb 2012) compared the “official” U3 unemployment rate (8.3% or 12.8 million) versus the Jobenomics functionally unemployment rate.  Now let’s take a look at the so-called official U1 Long-Term Unemployment Rate.  The BLS defines the U1 Long-Term Unemployment Rate as “persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force”.  The U1 is currently reported as 4.9% or 7.6 million Americans.  However, these 7.6 million are still looking for work.  When they stop looking, they become one of the 88 million in the not-in-labor-force category, which receives little public or media attention.  From a Jobenomics perspective, the number of “long-term” unemployed is much closer to 95.6 million than 7.6 million.

If America is going to solve the unemployment challenge, we must understand the scope and magnitude of the challenge that faces our nation.  Jobenomics firmly believes that this growing labor force problem is largely solvable via small, emerging and self-employed business creation.  The Jobenomics 20 by 20 Goal of 20 million new private sector jobs by year 2020 includes programs for the functionally unemployed.

For skeptics who believe that people would rather handouts rather than a hand-up, Jobenomics disagrees.  Our current national system of handouts, welfare and entitlement programs is essentially a non-work magnet.  Without a counter-magnet, people have no choice but subsistence on the government dole, which will eventually (probably soon) run out.   Jobenomics, and programs like it, provide opportunities for fellow citizens currently in the ranks of the functionally unemployed.

Thirty years ago, America was the largest creditor nation on earth.  Today, we are the largest debtor nation.  Looking to the future, when one calculates up-economics scenarios against down-economic scenarios, down scenarios dominate by a wide margin.  Consequently, it is safe to say that America is in economic decline.  The question that we should be asking is America’s decline reversible?  To answer this question, America needs to be brutally honest.  Political cheerleading and false bravado is not useful.  False hope is no hope.  From a Jobenomics perspective, hope starts in the heart.  The heart of America resides in its citizens – rich, middle-class and poor.  We can prosper only when our collective hope exceeds our collective fear.  There is much to make us afraid and there is equally as much to make us hopeful.  America’s hope resides not in our economy, but in our spirit.  The spirit of the American dream is bruised but alive.  To ensure the America dream stays alive for the financially downtrodden, it is paramount that we nurture and exploit the spirit of innovators and entrepreneurs with emphasis on those at the base of our economic pyramid.  Our economic base has to be rock solid – a house built on sand will not stand.

Today’s path to prosperity cannot be achieved through incremental changes to the status quo.  Nor can prosperity be achieved by top-down solutions.  While reduced bureaucracy, less regulation, and better financing to the base of America’s economic pyramid will help, these measures alone will not lead us to prosperity.  The path to prosperity resides mainly in our citizenry and our collective resolve to generate viable opportunities for all to achieve their American dream.  A nation divided against itself cannot stand.  This was true when Abraham Lincoln said it.  It is true today.

Over the last thirty years, America lost its focus on economic fundamentals.  $50 trillion of public and private debt caused by lavishing spending is only a symptom of a larger issue.  The American economic engine stalled because we turned from producing to speculating at all levels of or society – Main Street, Wall Street and Washington.

There is an old adage that states there are three ways to make money: (1) by your own hands, (2) by someone else’s hands, and (3) by making money-on-money.  Over the last three decades, making money-on-money became the first choice of Americans from Wall Street to Main Street to Washington.  Wall Street over-leveraged exotic financial instruments.  America’s largest corporations now make as much money on financial services as they do manufacturing.   Main Street over-extended itself by buying oversized homes, investing in the stock markets and 401Ks, and maxing out credit.  Washington not only let this happen, but became the largest trader of toxic financial instruments (mortgage-backed securities) on the global secondary market.

The path to economic security begins by changing America’s negative attitude towards business.  At best, Americans have become ambivalent towards business.  Business is taken for granted.  It is often looked upon as a necessary evil, checkbook, or social service provider, as opposed to the economic solution.  Anti-business sentiment causes big businesses to be cautious, limit hiring, close operations, and outsource overseas.  It is estimated that 25 million American jobs have been outsourced to China in recent years.   When iconic American companies, like Apple, employ more Chinese than Americans, there is a problem. Anti-business sentiment encourages small business to go out of business, layoff employees, and defer expansion.  Equally important, anti-business sentiment discourages business investment which is needed to start new businesses and grow existing businesses.

The only meaningful way to fix the American economy involves a comprehensive plan involving economics of business, job, wealth and tax revenue creation—the Jobenomics credo.  The Jobenomics Plan for America emphasizes small, emerging and self-employed businesses.  Small business is the US economic backbone.    Small business (less than 500 employees) employs 84% of the total US civilian labor force.  There are 6 million US small businesses and 22 million self employed businesses.  Since the beginning of this decade (2010s), small business generated 97% of all new jobs compared to large businesses that have produced only 3%.  Small business produces $6 trillion annual revenues, which equates to the second largest economy in the world.

If America wants to reverse its economic decline, small, emerging and self-employed businesses will have to take the lead role.  In this regard, the Jobenomics’ Team has instituted a dozen highly-scalable “proof-of-concept” business creation initiatives that can generate tens of thousands of new small, emerging and self-employed US businesses.  Current Jobenomics initiatives involve: community-based business generators, women-owned businesses initiative, veterans-owned businesses, a nation-wide system of electronic-waste recycling plants, energy and green job programs, cloud computing projects, direct-care centers, business ministries, real estate owned properties programs, minerals exploration and mining projects, a direct sales initiative, and foreign-owned US businesses and investment projects.  While most of these initiatives are in the planning phase, public response has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.  The basis for the public’s enthusiasm resides more in the potential as opposed to the initiatives themselves.   If several hundred members of the Jobenomics team can implement businesses that could scale to tens of thousands of jobs, what could America do writ-large with a national level program?

America’s focus has to be on private sector business innovators and entrepreneurs.   The Jobenomics 20 by 20 Plan calls for small and emerging business innovators to generate 18 of the 20 million new jobs required for economic recovery by year 2020.   On a level playing field, small businesses can operate internationally.  In the near term, America needs to focus on business creation in the service-providing industries as opposed to the goods-producing industries (predominantly manufacturing, construction).  Why?  Because 78% of all American jobs are services-related, and service industry jobs can be implemented much faster than other industries.  Rapid implementation is essential to enhancing consumer and investor confidence.

America has faced many historical crossroads and has repeatedly chosen the path to prosperity.   Several hundred years ago, the vast majority of Americans worked on the farm.  Today, only one percent works in agriculture or ranching.  Over the last hundred years, the vast majority of Americans lived in rural areas.  Today, eighty percent live in urban areas.   Fifty years ago, half of our citizens worked in factories.  Today, eight percent of our workforce is employed in manufacturing.  America now faces yet another crossroad.  One path leads to continued decline.  The other path leads to renewed prosperity.  Big government, big business and top-down strategies are essential to a strong economy.  However, small business has been, and will be, the engine of economic and social transformation.  With the decline in manufacturing, construction and government funding, urban areas are struggling to support jobless masses.  Empowered by 21^st Century technology and public support, small business has the wherewithal to employ tens of millions, create wealth and transform our nation.

Transformation will be lead not only by traditional innovators and entrepreneurs, but by non-traditional Generation X’ers and Generation Y’ers who are the most qualified people to monetize the internet and social networks.  Facebook alone has 800 million users.  The country that learns how to monetize social networks will be transformed almost overnight.   Tens of millions of new businesses (mostly small and self-employed) will be created.  Millions could migrate from urban to rural or virtual communities, and create a new American way-of-life to fulfill a different American dream based more on self-sufficiency and economic independence than wealth creation.  70 million Generation Y’ers are now entering the workforce.  They are tech-savvy, team-oriented and socially conscious.  They have a much different view of corporate culture and how to do business.  Most importantly, they own the future.

America’s future depends on sustainable, environmentally-friendly communities that will be more rural/virtual than urban.  Self-employed, home-based business could be the norm.  Today, there are 22 million self-employed, home-based businesses.  Tomorrow, it could be two or three times as many.  To empower growth of highly-networked small businesses, a national broadband system is essential.  From a Jobenomics perspective, building a national broadband system is the most important thing that government and big business can do for jobs creation.  Today, 40% of American households have no broadband or high-speed access and 30% have no internet access at all—mostly in rural areas.  While America has the largest total number of broadband subscribers, internationally the US ranks 15^th per capita when adjusting for population size.  A state-of-the-art national broadband system is tomorrow’s business superhighway.  Just as the railroads opened the American West to commerce and Eisenhower’s interstate highway system facilitated explosive economic growth, a national broadband system will enable e-commerce and e-business between billions of people and organizations across the planet.

In conclusion, the highest percentage way to reverse America’s economic decline is to focus on business creation with emphasis on small, emerging and self-employed businesses.   Jobenomics Community-Based Business Generator projects, like Jobenomics-Harlem, are designed to create 1,000 new small businesses per year per city.  The Jobenomics Women-Owned Business initiative estimates that up to 7,000 new, predominantly home-based self-employed businesses could be created by the end of the decade.  And, these are only two of the twelve proof-of-concept initiatives that the Jobenomics team is trying to implement.  If America would implement a national small business initiative with initiatives of this nature, we could have an excellent shot at reversing our economic decline.  It all starts with an achievable vision.  President Kennedy focused American science and technology on getting to the moon in a decade.  In comparison, the Jobenomics 20 million new private sector jobs by year 2020 (20 by 20) goal should be very achievable.

The Jobenomics Veterans Center (JVC) Initiative is designed to help wounded and combat veterans transition to the civilian workforce by providing training and financing to start their own Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) or Veterans Owned Small Business (VOSB) oriented to the skills that the vet learned during his/her tenure in the US Armed Services.

While publicly venerated for patriotism and service, veterans have a much harder time finding work than most citizens. Veteran unemployment rates have been consistently higher than average citizens.   While the job market is slowly improving for most Americans, it’s moving in the opposite direction for Iraq/Afghan vets.  Veterans, aged 18 to 24, have a 30% jobless rate, up from 18% a year earlier. For for black veterans, aged 18 to 24, the unemployment rate is approching 50%.   Returning combat veterans need a “hand-up” more than they need a “hand-out”.  More specifically, they need jobs, which are in short supply in today’s economy.  Combat veterans face even a more difficult challenge after being in austere conditions, many of whom face degrees of post dramatic stress syndrome and other combat related disabilities.  Of the 2.2 million Iraq/Afghan vets, 624,000 (28%) have filed for some sort of disability with the Veterans Administration.

JVC will focus primary on combat veterans (soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines) returning from Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (Iraq).  The goal of this training is to help veterans transition into civilian life via a 6-month business training and creation program.  JVC is designed to provide an environment that will address the challenges of a successful transition from combat to civilian life as well as helping the vet start a SDVOSB or VOB.    Successful creation of a SDVOSB or VOB will provide veterans their own company as well as making them more competitive in getting a job at an established company, whether on a full-time (W2) or a part-time (1099) basis.  Having their own company will also build confidence in their ability to function in the civilian workforce and greatly shorten the transition time from combat to workfare.  While accolades from the American public are extremely gratifying, providing meaningful employment opportunities are the highest form of appreciation for their service and sacrifices.

Via the Jobenomics movement, JVC has agreements with leading entrepreneurial, business development, academic, financial and veteran experts and networks.  JVC will use proven professionals, human resources personnel and college and vocational placement specialists to aid in the transition from military to civilian life.  JVC features wellness programs, social events, excursions and motivational speakers. By the end of the 6-month program the vets will have:

• A thorough knowledge of business practices on how to set up and run a successful small business taught by successful entrepreneurs and leading instructors with expertise in small business creation and implementation.
• An established SDVOSB or VOB with:
• An Employer Identification Number (EIN), incorporation (S-Corp, C-Corp or Limited Liability Corporation), and the essentials to run a fully operating company (accounting systems, business plans, legal/regulatory, branding/marketing/sales, financing, etc.).
• All vets will be supplied a computer with accounting, business planning and website/social networking systems.  Training will be also provided including how to obtain appropriate accounting (e.g., book keeping and CPA), information technology, and sales/marketing/ advertizing/branding support after graduation.
• All registration/licensing completed in the state and municipality of their choosing.
• Supplementary business systems (e.g., website, social networking, bank accounts, etc.) that will facilitate the promotion of SDVOSB or VOB growth.
• Supplementary education while at the JVC, including.
• Enrollment in an on-line learning course on other on-line universities to pursue continuing education and certification, which will be initiated and taught by qualified instructors while at the Center.
• Access to micro-business coaching and micro-business financing from private sector sources during and after training at the Center.
• A JVC certificate of completion from and any supplementary certifications from the academic organizations affiliated with the Center.
• Potential classes with local accredited academic institutions.
• Understanding on how to access US government grants, veterans set-aside funding and investment capital (debt and equity financing) from private sources (commercial banks, investment banks, and high net worth individuals/angel investors).  Jobenomics is in the process of setting up micro-business loans for the JVC similar to the $20 million micro-business loan program (loans ranging to $50,000 for qualified new businesses) that was initiated for the Jobenomics-Harlem program.  The Center will also work with municipal, state and the federal government to underwrite the new SDVOSB/VOBs.
• Low cost business incubation facilities and/or offices at local industrial/business parks.
• A network of entrepreneurial organizations and an on-going business support network.

The JVC, via the national Jobenomics team of entrepreneurs and faculty, has world-class instructors, small business entrepreneurs and big business leaders.  These instructors, entrepreneurs, business leaders are from prestigious academic, entrepreneurial networks (like the 20 year old CEO Space entrepreneurial network with a world-class faculty and a network of hundreds of thousands of small business leaders across the US) and Fortune 500 executives who are willing to volunteer to help returning combat veterans.  The leading aerospace and defense corporations have expressed an interest in working with the JVC to outsource work to these newly created SDVOSB or VOB.

JVC pilot projects are currently being targeted for locations in Massachusetts, Texas and Nevada.