FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 25, 2018) – Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes on Tuesday said her office will begin accepting applicants Aug. 1 for her office’s Boots to Business initiative the General Assembly passed earlier this year.
Through Boots to Business new business entities which are 51-percent owned by a military veteran or active service member, including members of the National Guard, are eligible for fee waivers for the initial business filing and the annual report filing in the next four years of business.
“For the last several years, we have worked hard to honor the service of Kentucky’s more than 330,000 veterans. ‘Boots to Business’ thanks our heroes for their selfless service and sacrifice to our country and encourages them to continue giving to their communities. We want to encourage and foster entrepreneurship and help them start a new chapter,” Grimes said.
In 2017 alone, the Secretary of State’s office identified 8,300 Kentucky businesses that were at least 50-percent veteran-owned.
Reps. Tim Moore, Jody Richards, and DJ Johnson sponsored the legislation, House Bill 319, in the House of Representatives. Richards also carried the bill in previous sessions.
“It has been a long journey [for Boots to Business] and, truly, we have to give the effort to the Secretary for all the hard work she’s done to make this come about,” said Gen. Benjamin F. Adams, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs, said in April at the bill’s receiving ceremony. “It’s service that is the call. There are so few who are able [to serve], and for those who can, we owe everything we have to give them an opportunity to do more with what they want to do in life.”
Potential new veteran or active-duty military business owners can learn more about the program by contacting the Secretary of State’s office or visiting sos.ky.gov.
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