Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
Weathersafe Restoration is a general contractor that focuses on commercial and residential roofing, windows, siding and roofing for commercial and residential buildings,
The company has around 25 employees at any given time with a commercial division that is growing nicely. At any given time one or more of those employees has been a veteran returning to work in civilian life.
“We find it important for us to help veterans get back into the workforce if we can help,” says Mike Chamberlain, vice president and co-owner. “I wish we had more sources to get in with veterans that are looking to work in our industry.”
Returning to civilian life for veterans can, at times, be a rocky transition. That often includes difficulties with finding employment. Military personnel are not trained to talk about themselves, which can make interviewing for jobs challenging. And their resumes, though potentially filled with useful experiences, don’t always check the boxes or provide the keywords employers are seeking.
Whatever challenges military personnel may have with the process of a job search or baggage they bring back from time spent overseas in service of the country, Weathersafe Restoration is one of a growing number of companies finding that even with nontraditional resumes and skill sets, veterans bring a lot of skills to a variety of roles.
From sales to assisting with installations to helping the production team, there’s not a role in the organization outside of office manager that veterans haven’t held at some point in time, Chamberlain says. They don’t always stay long.
The last veteran he hired ultimately decided he wanted to get into helping other vets, so he ultimately left for the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs. But it’s always worked out well.
They aren’t charity hires. “We want to make sure we hire someone that fits our business and can represent our business well,” Chamberlain says. “It could be permanent, that’d be great.”
Even if it ends up being a bridge job, he adds, “it seems like it’s always a good fit,” he adds.
Chamberlain’s brother, Travis Walker, is co-owner, company president and, himself, a veteran. Several other family members were in the military and, Chamberlain says, it’s a way of helping out others who served.
“We just look at it as a way to give back,” he says. “We kind of help each other out. We’re trying to fill that position and we know veterans come back from their service and they’re trying to get back in the work force. It’s just an understanding.”
About 5 percent of the just over 100 employees at Horizon Roofing Inc. are veterans. It’s not a formal hiring strategy or anything like that, though Kurt Scepaniak, president and CEO, says he’s trying to figure out how to make it more concrete.
So far, when he has ended up hiring veterans, it’s been by happenstance. And it has worked out well.
“I definitely don’t have as many as I’d like to,” Scepaniak says. “They understand roles, responsibilities and they make good employees for sure. We haven’t found any magic sauce yet. We’re just trying to figure out how do we really tap into that group.”
It’s important, he says, to have good employees who understand that quality work, even when most people won’t see it, still matters. For example, Horizon Roofing does commercial flat roofing. The general public won’t often see the results, but if there is a leak, it has to be fixed and it’s not always easy work.
“Even simple things like making your bed and making it look good when you’re going through basic, that starts teaching them,” he ways. “They understand because of things they’ve gone through that it’s not always going to be easy.”
Dennis Davis spent 16 years in the United States Navy and the United States Air Force Reserve. He deployed twice during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and wrote “Not Your Average Joe: Profiles of Military Core Values and Why They Matter in The Private Sector.”
He agrees with Scepaniak’s assessment of the characteristics veterans can bring to the table, and then some. Many companies, however, are inflexible and unwilling to see those skills and characteristics. Instead, many of today’s job applications, particularly in the digital world, are not really about talent acquisition, but more about typing the right keywords and clicking on websites.
“That hurts a lot of great candidates, but especially military because we speak a different language,” Davis says.
He’s hopeful, particularly with the hiring market companies are facing today, that perhaps military personnel might start getting a closer look from employers.
“It’s incumbent on the company to be able to make sure every rock is overturned properly and when its overturned properly they are able to assess that talent for what it really is, so they are not just recruiting, they are truly acquiring talent,” he says.
He acknowledges that veterans need to do their part, as well.
He works with a lot of folks returning to civilian life on making the transition. But he also encourages companies to think about hiring for values rather than skills. That will help when exploring the possible contributions a veteran, with his or her different experiences, might make.
“Realize there are some universal skills that tend to be applicable, like the ability to follow directions, accountability, integrity, some universal things that are values and also are directly applied to your skills,” he says. “There are skills they are learning in the military. They may not be on a resume, but if they are doing their work and you understand a little bit about what they are doing, then you’d understand you can look at this person.”
He also suggests that companies bring another veteran into their hiring process. “Let him work with the talent acquisition staff,” Davis says. “If you don’t have someone in that position, bring someone in to coach human resources professionals up so they do understand.”
Following college, Mike Wolbrink became an Army Ranger who did two combat tours. He’s now founder and president of Azule Staffing, a 7-year-old company aimed at putting veterans to work in rewarding civilian positions.
The company has four divisions:
IT staffing, program management, cyber security and professional services. The company never turns down a veteran in need of work and he’s tried to help organizations see the upside in hiring former military personnel.
They bring skills that make them fit in many roles, Wolbrink says. But, in addition to the challenge of simply landing their first job, it’s not unusual for a veteran to have one or two short-term “bridge” jobs because they don’t really know what they want to do, Wolbrink says.
“The veteran doesn’t know what they are going to be good at,” he says. “The third gig is what they hold on to. We’ve seen this hundreds of times over the last seven years. It doesn’t matter if it’s a private or a sergeant or a colonel, it’s a trend of people not knowing what they want to do.”
One of the most successful areas of placement in recent years has been cyber security. In 2015, with a grant from JP Morgan, the company started a cyber division. It’s proven hugely fruitful.
“Military people naturally understand how to take a defensive and offensive position on things,” he says. “They totally get it. Other people take a look at this and don’t understand offense and defense the way military people do. We knew vets would fit well into the cyber security realm.”
Because of that mindset, and because most business owners don’t have the mind for or time to dedicate to cyber security, there have been opportunities for veterans to slot into roles within companies or start their own businesses.
“People are really good at whatever they do,” Wolbrink says. “If I run a beauty parlor or I run a restaurant or I run a manufacturing company, that’s what I need to be good at. When we get to the cyber stuff, I need to bring in somebody else to take care of that.”
There are some sources available for companies that want to hire veterans. HireaVeteran.com is a website where companies can post openings solely with veterans in mind. RecruitMilitary.com is a site that connects employers with veteran talent.
With Minnesota dealing with a tight labor market and a long-time low unemployment rate, the state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development also sees the availability of veterans as a huge component of strengthening the state’s work force.
There are about 50 DEED operated CareerForce locations around the state and last year alone more than 7,000 veterans received some level of employment services, which included training on how to apply for jobs and plan for careers, says Hamse Warfa, deputy commissioner for workforce development.
“For us to reduce that gap, hiring veterans is a big component,” he says.
The state also works with businesses — primarily small- and mid-sized companies — to educate them about the availability of such talent and about the benefits they can provide for a business.
“What we’re seeing is everywhere we go across the state, employers are really looking for help,” Warfa says. “Given the extremely tight labor market, we are noticing that employers are more willing to consider hiring veterans. Our message is it’s good for the company’s bottom line.”
With around two jobs available for every one person seeking employment, he says it should be hard for companies to pass up the skills and characteristics veterans do bring to the table, even if they might not have a traditional resume or the exact skills sought.
“We find them very trainable and retrainable,” Warfa says. “They came from adaptable complex environments. That becomes of great use to them. Adaptability is a strength to bring to the table for employers. The ability to work under pressure is an area of strength that is helping veterans in their job searches.”
To learn more, employers can go to one of the 50 CareerForce locations or go to www.careerforcemn.com.
CONTACT:
MIKE CHAMBERLAIN, vice president and co-owner, Weathersafe Restoration Inc.: 651.528.6219;
ws*@************nc.com; www.weathersafeinc.com.
DENNIS DAVIS, consultant on veteran transition and author of “Not Your Average Joe: Profiles of Military Core Values and Why They Matter In The Private Sector”: 612.486.2501;
de**********@*******zo.net; www.NYAJvets.com.
KURT SCEPANIAK, president and CEO of Horizon Roofing: 612.333.1481; ku**@***************nc.com; www.horizonroofinginc.com.
HAMSE WARFA, deputy commissioner for workforce development, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development: 651.259.7501; Ca*********@******mn.us
MIKE WOLBRINK, president of Azule Staffing: 952.956.6550; mi**@*******le.com; www.azulestaffing.com.
As the name suggests, Owatonna-based Kamp Automation looks for customers with a process they’d like to automate. It could be a small, inconvenient, tiny part that people can’t assemble. It could be a high-volume product so needed that the customer can’t find enough labor to produce it in the necessary quantities. “We’ll work anywhere from medical device companies to the seed industry for corn and soybeans,” says Kent Patterson, co-founder, president and CEO. “We just jump all over wherever there is custom automation.” The company started in his garage. Patterson and his partners built a machine. The company started to grow to the point where now it has 48 employees — and had a bunch of people and stuff in different locations. “We went from a garage to a shop to a shop and just kept moving to new places and signing leases,” he says. “We got to a point where it’s like, OK, this is getting big enough and sustainable — we felt that we wanted to look for our own space.’”
