A couple weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending Entrepreneur magazine’s 2012 Growth Conference in Long Beach, Calif., as a member of The UPS Store team, which sponsored the event.

For the more than 850 entrepreneurs who convened at this year’s Growth Conference, there was an undeniable feeling of optimism and determination to learn and grow their businesses.

I admire entrepreneurs. I know many in my own life and career. Each of The UPS Store franchisees is an entrepreneur in his or her own right. What they do is truly amazing. It takes an enormous amount of courage to chart a path, not knowing where you’ll end up in the end.

The conference kicked off with a keynote address from entrepreneur and small business expert Chris Brogan. I was fortunate to sit at a table with one entrepreneur who was hoping to glean some motivation from the speakers to help her get started with her business.

When Chris took the stage, I knew we were in for a fantastic day of learning and growth. Chris spoke about the hard lessons of being an entrepreneur and what you can do to focus on growth in your business. Being the social media buff that he is, Chris spoke about the importance of focusing on relationships versus transactions within social media, becoming a relationship-minded business. (Watch the complete video of Chris Brogan’s keynote.)

The rest of the day was packed with great content and networking opportunities. Several leading entrepreneurs and small business experts hosted workshop sessions that helped attendees learn how to raise capital to start a business, increase productivity and output, use social media to market to consumers and create consumer passion for your brand. One of our very own franchisees, Gary Williams Jr., was also featured in a panel discussion during one of the workshop sessions.

The highlight of the day was the awards luncheon, where Entrepreneur magazine and The UPS Store awarded the winners of the Entrepreneur of 2011 contest. The most inspiring one came from winner Lee Rhodes, a cancer survivor who founded glassybaby. Lee donates a significant portion of the company’s revenue to help fund treatment to cancer patients. Her goal is to donate 10% of revenue.

Check out the highlights from the entire day.

In the seven years I spent in the U.S. Marine Corps, I met countless remarkable men and women who day in and day out committed themselves to serving our country and helping keep its citizens safe. Many of my fellow Marines stayed in the service and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of them will be soon coming home.

Over the next several months, tens of thousands of men and women will return from deployment in Iraq, Afghanistan and Southeast Asia. Opportunities in the private sector are needed to provide these individuals a smooth transition into civilian life. Veteran unemployment rates are 11.7% and 22% for veterans under 25 years. These are staggering and undeserved numbers among the men and women who have honorably served to help keep our nation free.

Since 2003, The UPS Store has participated in the International Franchise Association (IFA) VetFran Initiative, a voluntary effort of IFA member-companies that is designed to encourage franchise ownership by offering financial incentives to honorably discharged veterans.  In that time, approximately 150 The UPS Store locations have opened under this program, providing more than $700,000 in discounts to these men and women.

Now it’s time to do more …

Yesterday, Stuart Mathis, president of MBE, franchisor of The UPS Store network joined First Lady Michelle Obama, the IFA and other business leaders at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for the announcement of “Operation Enduring Opportunity,” an initiative of the franchising sector to recruit and/or hire as many as 75,000 military veterans and their family members by the end of 2014, as well as 5,000 wounded veterans.

To support “Operation Enduring Opportunity,” The UPS Store announced an increased financial incentive for up to 10 qualified U.S. military veterans to open their own locations – valued at approximately $300,000. Those who are interested can visit the Veteran Discounts section of theupsstore.com.

We hope that we can help make a small difference for these returning men and women. And, we hope that if you have a business, whether large or small, you will consider hiring a veteran.

Happy Veterans Day and thank you to all who have served.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This week, as America celebrates National Small Business Week and the approximately 27.2 million small businesses across the country, we’d like to give a special shout out to  the small businesses near and dear to our hearts—  those  4,400 The UPS Store U.S. locations and the hardworking men and women who operate them.   

Yep, that’s right—each and every The UPS Store location is individually owned and operated. Our franchisees live in your community, shop at the same grocery store, send their kids to your children’s schools… and pay taxes! By opening a business in your community, they are parents helping parents and small business helping other small businesses. You trust them with your grandchildren’s birthday present, your business mail, and that 200-page, full-color business presentation that you need tomorrow for the most important meeting of you career.  

Small businesses have a significant impact on our country’s financial well being and fuel the American economy, which as we all know continues to need refueling.

So, the next time you need to ship a package, print business cards, notarize a document, fax a resume (yes, people still do!) go local.  Support the small business in your community that is backed by one of the nation’s most powerful brands. Get to know The UPS Store franchisees. They’ll certainly get to you know you. Think  of The UPS Storeas a “Cheers” with packaging supplies, copiers and mailboxes, just without the bar and Norm.

We also salute our small business customers. On behalf of The UPS Store and UPS family, we thank you for your business and look forward to continuing to serve you.

As the country plans parties and organizes tailgating for Sunday’s Super Bowl, the two teams that have made it to the big game are preparing mentally and physically to ensure they’re at the top of their game. I remember the excitement of playing in the Super Bowl and what an honor it was to win two Super Bowl Championships. It’s a great feeling when all of your hard work throughout the season pays off.

Since then, I’ve traded in my jersey for a new uniform—The UPS Store uniform. After a serious injury, I started thinking about life after football. I’ve been a The UPS Store franchisee for five years and credit my football career for preparing me to run my business. It takes the same amount of preparation, dedication, focus and teamwork to make sure my business is well run.

As a small-business owner, my biggest opportunity has been providing employment for some of our local youth. I’m across the street from my high school and I provide young kids an opportunity to do some things they’ve never done, by preparing them to work in a business setting in the future. In our center, they are exposed to many new variables each day that require quick problem solving as well as communication with customers.

There are a lot of football players in the league who have done what I’ve done—planned for what comes next. Some have even chosen the same route I did—they’ve become owners of a franchised business. To assist players, the league has a player development program that provides assistance in areas such as continuing education, career development and career transition. While we love the game, we know that it won’t last forever and we must think about the future and take what we have learned on the field off the field.

So, which ever team you are cheering on this Sunday, think about the preparation, dedication, focus and teamwork that got them to the big game and where it may take them down the road.

As we step into the early days of November, I find myself running the logistics of the coming holiday period thru my mind. Today I ordered POS labels, thermal tape, Next Day Air envelopes, pouches and ink for my postage meter. Next, I have the entire inventory of my business to review and will need to place re-stocking orders before the holiday rush starts.

With this being my second holiday season as a The UPS Store owner, I find myself calm as I go through the steps to get ready.

I am a Veteran. In my youth, I spent 12 very good years working on and serving on U.S. Navy nuclear submarines. I operated and maintained the computers that programmed and launched the submarine-based ICBMS that stood by unused during the Cold War days.

Last week, my franchise consultant and I were reviewing my holiday plans and we both ended up laughing that my days in the Navy are paying off. When asked why I was so calm about the approaching season, I told him that I have been able to convert most of the work in my business into procedures. Somewhat like medical or military procedures for working on nuclear weapons, my procedures can be trained, they are repeatable, and the end results are a job that meets the objective and are consistent between associates at my center. I told him that I run my business like a paramilitary operation. If something goes wrong, as a team, we pull out the procedure and review it for change or further training. Our goal is for all of us to get it right. It is working well for me; I am in a college town and have 11 associates trained and working this season, many of whom are students at Seton Hall University.

As we celebrate Veterans Day, once again I didn’t get to take that day off. Rather, I woke up, put on my uniform, and am working at my The UPS Store, fine tuning the associate training to meet the days ahead. Clearly, my military days and learned disciplines are paying off for me, in all places, The UPS Store, South Orange, New Jersey.

George Berkeley took advantage of the International Franchise Association’s (IFA) Veterans Transition Franchise Initiative, known as “VetFran,” which helps veterans transition to civilian life. VetFran, a voluntary effort of IFA member-companies, is designed to encourage franchise ownership by offering financial incentives to honorably discharged veterans. At present, nearly 400 franchise companies participate in the program. Qualifying veterans receive $10,000 off the franchise fee of a new The UPS Store location and 75% off the initial application fee (applied toward the total franchise fee). To learn more and to hear from three additional veterans, visit www.theupsstorefranchise.com/vetfran/.