Maryville University is proud to announce the launch of the Veterans Accelerator, a new program built to help veteran entrepreneurs and transitioning service members turn hard-earned military discipline into lasting business success. The accelerator is welcoming founding sponsors who want to help fuel the program’s first class.
The program is led by Beth Sweet, Colonel Elizabeth K. Sweet, USAR (Ret.), who serves as the Veterans Accelerator’s program director. A retired U.S. Army Reserve officer, Colonel Sweet brings both military leadership experience and a deep commitment to veteran success to a program designed around the specific strengths, and specific challenges, of veteran founders.
Why an accelerator?
Veterans leave the service with leadership skills, discipline and mission focus that translate directly into entrepreneurship, but the path from service member to small-business owner is not always straightforward. The Veterans Accelerator powered by Maryville University is designed to close that gap, pairing participants with mentorship, structured business-building curriculum and a network of fellow veteran founders and community partners who understand the transition firsthand.
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The program joins a growing list of ways Maryville shows up for the military community, alongside longstanding support for active-duty service members, veterans, reservists, guardsmen and their dependents, including Post-9/11 GI Bill processing and the Yellow Ribbon Program. Learn more about Maryville’s existing veterans benefits and education support.
About the Veterans Accelerator
The Maryville University Veterans Accelerator is a new initiative dedicated to helping veteran entrepreneurs and transitioning service members build and grow successful businesses. Led by program director Beth Sweet, Colonel USAR (Ret.), and supported by accelerator veteran Dan Lauer, the program is currently welcoming founding business sponsors.
About Dan Lauer
Dan Lauer brings decades of entrepreneurial and accelerator-building experience to the Veterans Accelerator’s sponsor and mentor network. A serial entrepreneur who founded Lauer Toys and created the Water Babies doll, Lauer later turned to ecosystem building as the founding executive director of UMSL Accelerate at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, where he launched the Ameren Accelerator and the Anchor Accelerator. He continues to build mission-driven accelerators focused on AI and veteran entrepreneur support. Businesses interested in sponsoring the Veterans Accelerator can connect with Lauer directly at dlauer1@maryville.edu.
About Maryville University
Founded in 1872, Maryville University is a comprehensive and nationally ranked private institution with an enrollment of well over 9,000 students. Maryville offers more than 90 degrees at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels, as well as several certificates that align with the undergraduate and graduate education levels. Maryville is recognized as the third fastest-growing private university in the United States by The Chronicle of Higher Education, serving students from 50 states and 56 countries. More than 50,000 Maryville alumni globally, many of whom work and live in the St. Louis region.
