Military veterans are finding a new mission by starting their own businesses, especially in North Texas.
The Dallas-Fort Worth area has 58,587 veteran-owned companies, the most in the state, according to the Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners.
The Dallas Morning News reported on the trend over the weekend.
Veterans are more likely to become entrepreneurs for a variety of reasons. Military officers already have many of the skills it takes to lead and find that being self-employed fits their lifestyle better, according to the DMN story.
“They have a lot of amazing qualities — when they get out of the military, they’re equipped to take on additional risk,” Wade Myers, managing director for Southlake-based Boldmore Growth Partners, told the DMN. “In entrepreneurship, you have to enter into it knowing you will have failure.”
The climate in North Texas ranks third in the country for being supportive of veteran-owned businesses, according to Thumbtack.
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The hybrid event in August will take place in person at SMU and virtually. The seventh annual Dallas Startup Week powered by Capital One is Dallas-Fort Worth's largest event focused on driving entrepreneurial success, economic impact, and innovation in the region.
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You'll find deadlines coming up for a new accelerator program; and many more opportunities.
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The city’s inaugural Entrepreneur-in-Residence position was recommended by the Mayor’s Task Force on Innovation and Entrepreneurship to better foster the start-up environment in Dallas. "While Dallas is known as a great place for big business, now we need to show that we are a great place for scalable, sustainable, and high-growth startups as well," Vaca says.
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Here's our rundown of each speaker, award, and Q&A from the Dallas Entrepreneur Center's annual State of Entrepreneurship.
![Erica Kosemund, Chief Brand Officer, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Gillian Breidenbach, Chief Partnership Officer, North Texas FWC Organizing Committee; Chief Gary Batton, Chief of Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Monica Paul, Executive Director of Dallas Sports Commission and President of North Texas FWC Organizing Committee; John Hobbs, Senior Executive Officer of Communications, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; and Heidi Grant, Senior Executive Officer of Commerce Administration, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, celebrate Choctaw Casinos & Resorts becoming an Official Dallas World Cup 2026 Host City Supporter. [Photo: North Texas FWC Organizing Committee/Choctaw Casinos & Resorts]](https://s24806.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/FIFA-Choctaw-dec-2025.jpg)
