{"id":7496,"date":"2026-07-08T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7496"},"modified":"2026-07-08T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T17:00:00","slug":"va-and-steak-n-shake-team-to-advance-veteran-business-ownership-and-promote-va-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7496","title":{"rendered":"VA and Steak \u2018n Shake team to advance Veteran business ownership and promote VA benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2026-07-08T17:00:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p><strong>WASHINGTON<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014  The Department of Veterans Affairs and Steak \u2018n Shake today announced an agreement to promote VA benefits and services and make it easier for Veterans to become owner-operators of Steak \u2018n Shake franchises.<\/p>\n<p>As part of the public-private partnership, VA and Steak \u2018n Shake have signed a memorandum of understanding under which:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Steak \u2018n Shake will waive its $10,000 fee under its Franchise Partner Program for Veterans seeking to run their own Steak \u2018n Shake franchise.<\/li>\n<li>Steak \u2018n Shake restaurants across the nation will promote awareness of VA healthcare and benefits through in-restaurant signage and on its website.<\/li>\n<li>Steak \u2018n Shake will prioritize the hiring of Veterans and VA beneficiaries, including family members, caregivers and survivors, for leadership positions across the company.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u201cVA is all about helping those who have worn the uniform achieve the American Dream,\u201d said <strong>VA Secretary Doug Collins<\/strong>. \u201cThis agreement with Steak \u2018n Shake will make it easier for Veterans and their families to do just that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m grateful to Secretary Collins and the Department of Veterans Affairs for their support of this initiative. Veterans are among the finest leaders in our country, and this partnership is about translating our respect for them into real economic opportunity \u2014 both behind the counter and at the ownership level,\u201d said <strong>Michael Boes, Chief MAHA Officer of Steak \u2018n Shake<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The MOU builds on VA\u2019s landmark efforts during the second Trump Administration to improve the department and make it easier for Veterans to get the VA care and benefits they\u2019ve earned. Recent improvements include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DeptVetAffairs\/status\/2072651740638323098\">Opening 38 new VA healthcare facilities\u00a0<\/a>since Jan. 20, 2025,\u00a0expanding healthcare access for Veterans around the country.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.com\/v3\/__https:\/www.benefits.va.gov\/reports\/mmwr_va_claims_backlog.asp__;!!F7tgZVw9B7TN_Q!MG1xgJ7bEpLD2q1HpQvCltPqNEiy4p1B6zfX2gDQwUaxwxWQImEbvr9pzMwU0qvIO_lDO_Q9bah0pMihAlMXGTLBd8Wts7c%24\" rel=\"noopener\">Reducing the backlog<\/a>\u00a0of Veterans waiting for VA benefits by 74% since Jan. 20, 2025, after it increased 24% during the Biden Administration.<\/li>\n<li>Enrolling more than 180,000 new Veterans in VA healthcare in 2026.<\/li>\n<li>Completing an all-time high of 82,083,918 direct care appointments in FY 2025, up 4.1% from FY 2024.<\/li>\n<li>Completing a record high 60,007,423 community care appointments in FY 2025, up nearly 12% from FY 2024.<\/li>\n<li>Offering Veterans more than <a href=\"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/veteransfirst\/\" rel=\"noopener\">3 million appointments<\/a>\u00a0outside of normal operating hours, giving Veterans more timely and convenient options for care.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.com\/v3\/__https:\/department.va.gov\/veteransfirst\/__;!!F7tgZVw9B7TN_Q!MG1xgJ7bEpLD2q1HpQvCltPqNEiy4p1B6zfX2gDQwUaxwxWQImEbvr9pzMwU0qvIO_lDO_Q9bah0pMihAlMXGTLB05QsHeQ%24\" rel=\"noopener\">Permanently housing 51,936 homeless Veterans <\/a>across the country in FY 2025, the highest total in seven years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/press-room\/va-and-steak-n-shake-team-to-advance-veteran-business-ownership-and-promote-va-benefits\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VA and Steak \u2018n Shake team to promote VA benefits and services and make it easier for Veterans to become owner-operators of Steak \u2018n Shake franchises.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-benefits","category-trump"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>VA and Steak \u2018n Shake team to advance Veteran business ownership and promote VA benefits - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"VA and Steak \u2018n Shake team to promote VA benefits and services and make it easier for Veterans to become owner-operators of Steak \u2018n Shake franchises.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7496\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VA and Steak \u2018n Shake team to advance Veteran business ownership and promote VA benefits - 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