Contact: Zack Plair
STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mike Pornovets knows a thing or two about getting the job done right.
The U.S. Navy veteran who served three tours in Afghanistan and another in Iraq returned home to Gulfport five years ago to start his now thriving retail business Everything Kayak. Also a counselor for Mississippi State’s Veterans Business Outreach Center, Pornovets recently has been honored by the Small Business Administration as Mississippi’s 2016 Small Business Person of the Year.
“The way I see it, this award isn’t just for me,” he said. “I’m accepting it on behalf of all the small business owners who are busting their humps doing the grind every day to be successful.”
Pornovets started working last August as a part-time counselor with MSU’s VBOC—which advises military veterans and spouses who are aspiring entrepreneurs on how to start and maintain their businesses. One of only 15 VBOC’s in the nation, MSU’s program serves Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee. The center is a partnership between MSU’s College of Business and the G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery Center for America’s Veterans.
While the main VBOC facility and its two staff members are located in MSU’s Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park, Pornovets operates from its satellite office in Biloxi and counsels program clients in the southern half of the center’s service area.
The VBOC completed its first operating year on April 30 and already offers services to 140 clients, said Rodney Pearson, MSU professor of management and information systems, director for student success and VBOC program manager. Pearson added that Pornovets’ background, which is enhanced by his winning the SBA award, helps make the VBOC more viable.
"It surely gives us a lot more credibility,” said Pearson, who helped write the application for the $825,000 SBA grant that brought the VBOC to MSU. “He is a veteran who has successfully transitioned from the military to the business world.”
Pornovets started kayaking when he was 11 years old and saw a market for his interest in Biloxi after his time in the Navy. He said he loves paying his experience forward to other veterans through the VBOC, whether it’s helping entrepreneurs identify funding sources or understand how to properly track their cash flow.
“That’s my favorite part of this job,” he said. “Programs like this did not exist when I came in, and I made a lot of mistakes because of it. I like to help others avoid those mistakes.”
For more information about the VBOC, visit http://vboc.msstate.edu.
MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.