News
GVSU program aids military entrepreneur; another cohort planned to start in April
February 23, 2026
Sabrina Jordan is the creator of 8Bit Insights, a fullservice, employee-owned data consultancy. Jordan began her company about eight months before attending the Michigan Veteran Entrepreneur (MVE Lab), an accelerated, entrepreneurial program sponsored by Grand Valley State University.
Jordan said she first learned about the program through the Office of Possibilities (OOPs), housed in the Grove Community Incubator in Traverse City. The 10-week MVE-Lab was created for Michigan veterans or military affiliated families, such as Jordan, who have a start-up idea or business.
“I hadn’t really been getting anywhere,” she said. “I felt like what I needed help with was marketing and getting the word out. I had the skills and I had my network, but I just wasn’t getting any traction.”
Through OOPS, Jordan was encouraged to apply for the MVE-Lab. She applied with the goal of learning how to strengthen her business and achieve greater success, ultimately joining MVE-Lab’s 14th cohort and its first in Traverse City last spring.
During the program, experts from around Traverse City were brought in to speak with the cohort, including businesspeople, a lawyer and a banker.
“They could answer all of our questions, no matter what those questions were, and really help us understand what to do with a new business,” Jordan said.
The MVE-Lab also provided a workbook detailing various technical aspects of running a business, such as setting up banking, legal structuring and marketing strategies.
“At the same time that we were learning all of that stuff, we were also working on our pitches for the company, which was really eye-opening to me,” said Jordan.
Northern Michigan Startup Week occurred during the MVE-Lab as well, which gave participants the opportunity to leave the classroom and learn from other business owners’ pitches and marketing strategies.
Before the MVE-Lab, Jordan said she struggled with concisely explaining the benefits of her business to potential clients. She walked away significantly more comfortable with pitching 8Bit Insights. Additionally, she developed a more precise marketing strategy.
“When I tried marketing to everybody, I ended up marketing to nobody,” she said. “One of the big changes that I made after the MVE Lab was picking just one industry and creating an offering that’s specific to that industry. I basically created a package that I could market and say, ‘This is going to solve X problem for you.’ That narrower scope helped a lot.”
At the end of the program, participants pitched their business ideas during a competitive showcase. Judges awarded Jordan’s pitch a prize of $4,250.
“Those connections keep rippling beyond just what helped me or what helped the other participants. It really is a network of people who actually want to help,” she said.
This spring, the MVE-Lab is returning to Traverse City. Registration for the upcoming cohort, beginning on April 7, is available at gvsu.edu/mve.
By Sofia Ellis