Veterans who have started their own businesses are trying to manage their own challenges, says Joshua Wilson, corporate relationship manager, America’s Warrior Partnership. “Labor shortages hit small businesses much different than they hit bigger companies. Some of these entrepreneurs may have started their business three years ago with the expectation that they would only have to pay their employees a certain amount,” says Wilson.

WorkingNation sat down with Wilson in Atlanta at the Warrior Community Integration Symposium – an annual convening of veteran-serving organizations hosted by AWP.

“Everyone who seeks resources for their business worries about accessing capital. I would say people of color, people who are non-male – female and other gender identities – certainly struggle and have traditionally struggled with having the infrastructure and the foundations that provide wealth,” says Wilson. He notes organizations like chambers of commerce and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families are working together to identify funding gaps.

Learn more about America’s Warrior Partnership.