The Veteran Business Support Association space was opened in Lviv

The space is designed to strengthen the veteran community in Lviv, develop responsible entrepreneurship, and form sustainable partnerships between the public sector, the veteran community, and the authorities.

"It is very gratifying that today we have opened another home for good people in Lviv. We have many such homes today. Considering that unity should be, is, and, I believe, will always be the foundation of our state, this is another good example of people organizing themselves and doing good deeds. Many thanks to the public organization “Families of Fallen Heroes of Lviv Region” for your love for people," said Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi.

"We want to thank the mayor and the city for their constant support and assistance. We have grown from a small organization into a large community. This would not have been possible without the help of the city. In fact, we see that so many people have come that we can't even fit everyone in, and we've only just opened,“ said Viktoria Rodych, chairwoman of the NGO ”Families of Fallen Heroes of Lviv Region."

The main work of the space will be to conduct training, education, and meetings for veterans. The Association for the Support of Veteran Business plans to sign memoranda with the Lviv City Council's Center for Entrepreneurship Support and the city's Department of Economy and to work together on grant programs.

“The most important thing is communication between veterans after they return from war. This space will become another place for this. We already have more than 90 veteran businesses, a large extended family, and every day there are more and more of us,” said Helena Bilyk, co-founder of the NGO “Families of Fallen Heroes of Lviv Region.”

"Supporting veterans is our top priority in our city. We are very pleased that this place will become another venue where the veteran community will have the opportunity to communicate, create together, support each other, organize training, and hold events. We have noticed that the most important thing when conducting training and grant competitions is that people have a place where they can communicate and support each other. Because one success story shows others that we can do it, and one failure also shows that it is not so scary. In this way, they support each other, and that is the main thing for us. They feel better, they see that the city is a partner that is close by and ready to support them. This is very valuable and important to us," emphasized Inna Svistun, director of the economic development department of the Lviv City Council.

The space was created on the basis of the NGO “Families of Fallen Heroes of Lviv Region” — the founders of the “Veteran Business Fair” in Lviv.

It should be noted that Veteran Business Fairs were held regularly in Lviv throughout the year, with 80 veteran entrepreneurs participating. They sold a variety of products, from unique handmade jewelry and accessories to craft products, holiday symbols, and decorations.

Incidentally, on December 9 this year, Lviv hosted the forum “Veteran Power: Business. Community. Recovery.” During the forum, veteran entrepreneurs exchanged experiences and practical advice on starting and running a business, city authorities presented initiatives that are in place in the city to support veteran businesses, and foreign speakers shared their international experience and assured their continued support for veteran projects in Lviv.

Lviv also has a map of veteran businesses, where you can find companies founded by veterans and their families. It was created to support and promote veteran businesses. Veteran entrepreneurs and their families are invited to fill out the form at the link so that your business can also be placed on the map.