The Small Business Administration announced it expects to increase lending to veteran entrepreneurs by $475 million over the next five years under its new Veteran Pledge Initiative.

The initiative is a commitment by the SBA and about 120 national and local banking partners to collectively increase their lending activity to veterans by 5% per year for the next five years.

The SBA is providing loan-guarantees, entrepreneurial training, and other resources to help the veterans start small businesses.

Under the new initiative, SBA expects to assist an additional 2,000 veterans obtain loans to start or expand small businesses.

The initiative also complements SBA’s existing partnership with the National Association of Development Companies on the VetLoan Advantage program. that program offers financing discounts and training to veterans interested in small business ownership.

It also complement’s SBA’s Operation Boots to Business training for vets and transitioning service members.

SBA interacts with veterans in 68 district offices and 15 Veterans Business Outreach Centers. With partners, it also has 1,000 small business development centers and 12,000 SCORE volunteers.