Ep 126-127, April 2022:

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Today on Wisconsin veterans forward, man, have we got some exciting news to share with all of you or what can you hear me? Yeah. To share with all of you? My goodness Is big. But first I wanna put some things in, in context. So we have been Back in action really for golly. When did we get back in action? It's been like 18 months. Has it been 18 months already? My goodness. But we were we experienced like so many other people a partial and then a complete shutdown due to the due to COVID. And then even when we came back, the way that we did what we did was restricted significantly and we had to evolve and kind of change the way that we served our members and our C unity In a big, big way. Because we weren't able to have live events. And we just, this last summer in June, June or July, we're able to start doing events again throughout the state. And you know, obviously we've been since then traveling throughout the whole state, we've had, we we've had events and we've supported our members and, you know, Claire and lacrosse and Madison Green bay Appleton Stevens point, we're seeing Kenosha, Milwaukee, Brookfield, I mean,

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Darn near hit every county. And which is something we're really proud of, but where we are now and on the heels of, of receiving this huge news, which is going to be a game changer for us as an organization and the way that we serve people, you gotta think about where we were, you know, back in COVID land. When the last thing that we did before we had to sh shutter and go into hibernation mode. The very last thing that we did Was had a fundraiser. We like our last ounce of energy before we had to shut down. We did a fundraiser for veteran serving organizations in, in the state. We raised like $24,000. And then, then we had to, we had to furlough, we had to shut down And it was a tough decision for the health and VI like long term viability of our organization. And from there to where we are now is a lot of patient, a lot of hard work, a lot of evolution, a lot of changes, but a lot of vigilant service, right?

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

And, and so bearing in mind that the news we're about to share that we are very happy about and you've maybe seen on our social media or whatever, but like the news we're about to share is something that we are very excited about. Something that didn't happen by accident. That's for sure. And, you know, I'm proud to serve alongside some of the best professionals, service oriented professionals who are committed to helping veterans veteran professionals, military families, veteran friendly businesses and bolster economic opportunity for all of the above, throughout the entire state. I'm honored to work alongside some really awesome people, Christian and SA. So there our guests today on the show and the three of us are gonna be talking about are two big, massive announcements that are gonna blow your mind. And then if you have any questions about that throw 'em in the comments, you know, how we roll around here, but I'm excited to get into this. Cuz like I said, it's gonna be a game changer for our organization. It's also be gonna be a game changer for the people we endeavor to serve. I'm excited to get into all of that, right after this: you are listening to Wisconsin veterans forward. Wisconsin's premier audio resource for veterans, military families, veteran owned and veteran friendly businesses. Wisconsin veterans forward is brought to you by the Wisconsin veterans chamber of commerce at wiveteranschamber.org, ladies and gentlemen in the flesh Saul Newton and Christian Thornton. How are you guys

Christian Thornton - WVCC:

Doing great, Adam? Thanks. Thanks for having me on the show. Oh

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Bet. Yep.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

Doing fantastic. Really excited to talk about what effect going on.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Very, very excited. So should we just should we just dive all the way in which, which big news are we gonna start with first? Let's start with the grant SA yep. Throw it out there man.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

So I believe it late last year as part of the American rescue plan act that was passed by Congress and signed into law by president Biden the state of Wisconsin has received a, a lot of funding to dedicate towards recovery, economic and health recovery from the COVID 19 pandemic. And what we know from research nationally, as well as in Wisconsin, is that diverse businesses that is businesses that are owned by minorities, businesses that are owned by veterans or I'm sorry, owned by women and businesses that are owned by veterans. We're disproportionately acted by the economic fallout caused by the pandemic. And so late last year, governor Evers announced that he would be allocating 75 million to support diverse businesses and help them recover from the pandemic. And that, that funding was to be used for two, for two purposes. One was to support what are called community development, financial institutions that is financial institutions who offer lending capital to business, to businesses that may not otherwise be able to access it from traditional lending resources as well as organizations that support and serve underserved businesses and diverse businesses. And of course that includes veterans. And so we were very honored to be selected as one of 24 different organizations to receive more than I believe it was more than 35 million in five between

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

The organizations change organizations. Yes.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

And so on Monday it was announced that we would be receiving just over 2 million to expand our programs and expand our capacity to serve more veteran owned businesses across the state of Wisconsin. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for certainly for our organization, but more importantly for veteran owned businesses to have access to resources, to have access, to direct marketing assistance technical assistance, all of the above. And we're really proud to be leading the charge and really the, the leading organization in the state dedicated to serving veteran own businesses

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Right on. So, so how are we well first off have ever received a 2 million grant before?

Saul Newton - WVCC:

No, I can, I can say with certainty that we have not, I can also say with certainty that none of the other 24 organizations, chambers of commerce and business support organizations had ever received this kind of investment before you know, this is the single large investment made in, in the diverse business community in history. No governor of either party has ever made supporting diverse businesses a priority in, in the way that this one has. And we're just fortunate that we, we are able to take what we do and expand our impact to reach more veteran owned businesses and ultimately to reach more businesses across the state, which we know strengthens our state's overall economy.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Absolutely. And this is, so this, this was a huge investment for organizations that don't typically garner huge individual investments. And by that, I mean, chambers of commerce are membership organizations, 5 0 1 C6 organizations. So while we could accept a personal individual donation, that's we don't get tax deductible, individual donations, those are 5 0 1 [inaudible] [inaudible] nonprofit organizations. We are membership based like, like all chambers of commerce, so people could throw money at us, but they wouldn't have that tax deductible thing. So that's not, that's not even a sliver of what chambers of commerce typically build their annual budget on is these large individual gifts. And usually from my experience in the nonprofit world, large gifts come from individuals they come from planned giving from, from endowment giving, like, which are just things that chambers of commerce typically don't access. So when you say this is a once in a lifetime investment for all of the chambers of commerce that received it, like you aren't kidding, this sort of thing just doesn't happen.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

No. And, and I think it, it really reflects how I, I think across the board, whether it's a diverse chamber of commerce, a local chamber of commerce this industry, I, I think the, the pandemic really showcased how important it is to have associations and have organizations that are dedicated to supporting businesses, even though Panda the, you know, COVID was certainly a challenge for us as an organization. We still, as you mentioned, were able to raise tens of thousands of dollars to support other nonprofit organizations. We were able to help our businesses, our members, and, and non-members as well, vet home businesses across the board access hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID relief funding that's right. Grant funding providing letters of support, providing technical assistance for things like PPP applications, P PPP forgiveness, E I D L loans. Those are all things that we were able to do because we, as an organization have have, are uniquely suited to to be able to provide that support and look until the, until we, we started this organization six years ago, there was no resource in the state of Wisconsin for veteran own businesses.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

There was no bit, there was no organization that was specifically dedicated to engaging veter own businesses. And so this is, this really reflects, I think the, the importance of supporting the organizations that support businesses, because as we in the military know, you're only as strong as the team you have around you. And so we're really par we're. We certainly can't do it all. We know we can't do it all. But to, to be able to look at what we've accomplished up until this point, see that impact, see the, the results of what we've been able to do. And from there, look and see, all right, now, now that we have more resources to work with, how can we expand our impact and further expand our reach and look, Wisconsin's a big state and, and just like every business and every organization we're trying to do as much as we can with limited resources, limited manpower, limited time but an investment like this really allows us the opportunity to, to expand our reach and, and ultimately serve more veteran businesses across the entire state.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Absolutely. And, you know, I think you make an excellent point about our business service. You know, there are a ton of ton of really awesome veterans serving or organizations throughout the state that provide direct emergency assistance or food assistance or subs, sub subsistance, or housing for veterans and military families in need for homeless veterans. Those are extremely valuable organizations, you know, that's not what we do, you know, and, and just because a veteran isn't homeless doesn't mean that they aren't in need in some way of some sort of assistance. You know, there, there's a huge wide range of people that are in need and can use help and resources. And we are, you know, we appreciate those other organizations. We work hand in hand with them and we support them. And we, we love 'em to death, you know, and we are on the business development end of things. So with that in mind, the next question I was gonna ask and Greg Fisher, just read my mind. He says, I speak to some of the mentor metrics or benchmarks we're gonna have for the new program. Greg might be a little early for specific benchmarks, and I'm gonna, and I'm also gonna say not program, but pro plural throughout the state, but I think how are we going to measure success? How are we going to use this money? And how are we gonna measure success? I think is something we can definitely talk about.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

So this, this investment and, and what we have committed to in exchange for receiving this investment is expanding our current programs and services over the course of the period, which is through the end of 2024. So it's important for folks who are who are watching to understand all of the business support programs that we offer. The first is our morning formation, educational workshops. Those are a series of workshops that we hold throughout the year and communities across the state that are targeted to meet the unique of veteran, small business owners and entrepreneurs. We talk about general business operations topics, including marketing operations, financial management, business planning, and legal issues. So one of the things that we're gonna be able to do with this funding is offer those types of workshops more often. And in more communities across the entire state, obviously a lot of folks who have been involved with us for a long time, know that networking is a big part of what we do.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

It's a critical need for veteran business owners, because as we, as we know, one of the things that veteran business owners struggle with is developing a professional network and having access to professional resources. And so our chamber mustard series is our networking series that we hold across the state. Once again, this funding is gonna be, is going, going to allow us to be able to offer those networking opportunities more often. And in more communities across the state, we also have a, an event series that focuses on supply chain, supplier diversity programs and contracting programs. That's called our supplier and contractor briefing. That's an event series that provides specialized information for veteran owned and service disabled veteran own businesses, looking to take advantage of public private sector, supply chain diversity and contracting programs. One of the biggest events that we hold throughout the year is our Wisconsin veterans business conference.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

This is the largest gathering of veteran business owners and the veteran business community across the board in the entire state. We recognize that contributions that veterans make to the state economy and to our communities with a day long event, that includes a veteran business expo, breakout sessions and workshops, networking events, and an awards launching beyond those specific events. We also have a business accelerator that we offer called command post really targeted towards emerging veteran entrepreneurs. That business accelerator program offers technical assistance curriculum mentorship. We're building in a pitch competition with financial awards and access to resources. We also have a marketing campaign available to all of our member businesses called proud to serve you where we, we promote. And we market the bus, the veteran own businesses within our networks across our platforms. And we also provide our members with marketing materials that they can use to promote their own businesses as being veteran owned.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

So that's what we do currently, what we're able to do with this increased investment. First we're planning to expand the Wisconsin veterans business conference to a multi-day event with more breakout sessions on more targeted topics. We're building in a more direct function of supplier diversity programs. And we'll be offering direct meetings with purchasers, with vendors, with purchasing specialists, so that veteran own businesses can have direct access to private and public sector programs that are looking to patronize and looking to contract with veter home businesses. We're expanding our educational events that we offer, as I mentioned those morning formations, supplier, and contractor briefings, so that we can hold those events more often and in more communities across the state. And we're specifically gonna be focusing on engaging underserved populations in rural air areas of the state, as well as underserved communities, such as communities of color women, L G B T folks, et cetera.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

We're going to be able to build upon existing relationships with community development, financial institutions in local lenders to be able to access to increase access to lending capital for veteran entre, which we know veterans are four times as likely to be denied lending capital as non-veteran entrepreneurs. So this funding is gonna be able to allow us to expand our relationships with lenders and make sure that veterans have access to the capital that they need in order to start businesses on the right foot. We're, we're able to develop new programs to support veteran own businesses participating in those supply chain programs. So we'll have more information about direct offering direct workshops where veterans can come and get certifi with either the state of Wisconsin, the federal VA, other federal agencies, defense contractors, et cetera. We're going to be actually putting resources towards a, a overall paid marketing campaign promoting veteran own businesses through a strategic marketing campaign that will be a digital digital campaign around our proud to serve you proud to serve you campaigns.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

So we're gonna be developing a veteran made product guide across the state of Wisconsin. The coolest things made by veterans all kinds of different initiatives to, to increase awareness of veteran own businesses and how jet enrolled customers can, can patronize those businesses. And ultimately this, this one time investment is going to allow us to increase our capacity and invest in our organization so that we, so that once this, this funding period expires, we're able to continue doing this, even though we don't have, have this one time large investment.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

That's a, that's a lot. So I, I, I hope that answered your question, Greg, you know, to the, to, to the question, what is, what does the chamber do? Does it even do anything? Well, there it is. That's, we're planning on doing our things and doing them more and bigger and better for more people. And we're planning on doing them in, in all the, the corners of the state. And we're, we're planning on doing as many of those things in person as we possibly can, cuz we understand the network development, professional network development value of doing those things face to face. I just wanna talk about the chamber musters for a minute, cuz I think those are misunderstood. I wanna ask Christian about that also, cuz we haven't, we haven't given Christian a chance to say anything. Chamber musters from the outside looking in might appear like, well that's just a good old boys, you know, hanging out and having good time together, you know, for a a for people, for business owners, for entrepreneurs or for professionals who, who are looking to develop their careers that are in that mode, they know that there's no more valuable piece to your career or development in any way, shape or form than like networking.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Can you talk about out Christian? What is a chamber muster? Is it just a bunch of guys hanging out and drinking beer? Like what is the impact of that? And, and can you extrapolate on that and get, get people to maybe understand what, what the, the deeper value is for that

Christian Thornton - WVCC:

A hundred percent? So yeah, the, the misconception can be that, that it's just a, a good old boys club, you know, chance to, to throw back a few beers with with, you know, your vet buddies you know, much like the perception of, of some of the, the talent bars and things like that. And whilst, you know, I would never say that you, you couldn't do that and, and you could absolutely kick back, share some more stories, et cetera. The main focus is really centered around networking opportunities and networking opportunities can take on many facets. So on the, on the surface level, you're looking at one business talking to another, making a connection about how to expand some supply chain, expand collaboration, work together towards common goals. But it can actually go deeper than that. And you know, in just one case when I was up in central Wisconsin and a couple weeks ago you know, it, it was really an opportunity for businesses to connect and discuss their pain points.

Christian Thornton - WVCC:

You know, in many cases, particularly with, with veteran entrepreneurs especially if they're in the early days, they don't know what they don't know. You know, and, and so often they'll encounter a situation and they don't know how to resolve it on their own. They're not sure of the resources that are out there and these musters and these networking opportunities provide that that format or that platform for one business to talk to another, that might be more established that might be going through those same points at those same pain points and be able to say, this is what we've done in the past, or this is what's worked for us. This is what hasn't worked and they can they can work on solutions that, that benefit not just themselves, but the entire community at large. And that's everything from supply chain issues, workforce development. There's no limit to, to the possibilities that take place. So whilst it might look like, you know, a bunch of people getting together and, and throwing back some beers or whatnot,

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Well, Too, you know, but really

Christian Thornton - WVCC:

That's such a minor piece of it. Quite honestly, it's, it's really that there's more business work that gets done in those hours or three hour musters. Then in many cases might happen during an entire work day.

It's a mentality too, that you often see in in other cultures as well. I, I've done a lot of work overseas with, with Japanese companies, and it, it's kind of a joke in, in some of those those areas that more work gets done over the dinner table or more work gets done outside of a business meeting, because you do have that informality, you have the, to speak a little bit more freely and ask those questions that you might not feel comfortable doing. So in a more formalized setting.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Excellent. I think that's a great point. And, you know, I, I wouldn't have thought of that, but yeah, discussing pain points and best practices among other industry leaders and successful business owners. And I mean, I've seen that been a thousand times at these, at these networking events, which are only a portion of what we do throughout the year. But another thing is, is I have seen literal five finger, five figure business deals go down handshake in and out. Good to go in front of my face at these chain, Amber musters. And I have seen relationships blossom that turned into six figure business deals and beyond right in front of our eyes at these musters. These are any, any serious professional, any serious business owner or entrepreneur will tell you that networking is super, super valuable. Like you can't, you cannot, you cannot downplay that.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

So just wanted to make sure that we, that we touched on that quick question, wounded warrior canines, appreciate you guys quite a bit. How, how would a nonprofit organization get a booth at your events? It's easy just when you see our events pop up on our website or through our social media, just click on, then if there's an opportunity for a booth, you can just click on that easy peasy, man. We are currently using event bright the, the event bright platform for our ticketing, but we are in the process of transitioning that we've, if you recall this last fall, we made a very long and arduous and painful transition from our old web platform to our new web platform. And one thing that it's included in that is we're able to then transition our events there. We've already transitioned our blog there.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

For the most part, our events will be able to go through that. Our ticketing will be able to go through that. And all of our our member support stuff will be able to go through that one website, which we're really excited about, but it's kind of a long drawn out process. So for now it's through event bright, you can also follow us there but eventually you'll be able to do it through our own kind of proprietary. And, you know, having these, these new resources now is something that frees us up. You know, me being the, the novice WebDev guy to be able to dive into making some of those changes that need to happen over a longer period of time. So I hope that answered your question. I'm pretty sure that's good. Greg says, thank you. Pretty sure that's good.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

It's gonna be really hard for us to tell you how those, how the metrics are going to pan out right now. One because the funds haven't been received yet, and two, because our, our, our board of directors, which is an collection of very, very smart people and experienced professionals has not signed off on how those, I mean, that's part of the process. They, they, they meet and they sign off on, like, this goes here, this goes here, this goes here, this goes here. And then those metrics and benchmarks can be established. I mean, these are service oriented professionals who are dedicated to our same mission and our vision and our values who are volunteering their time to serve on this board that are going to, with a fine tooth comb in a very granular fashion decide where these things, where these, these new assets are gonna go and at what times, and then those metrics will be established.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

So I, I hope you didn't feel like I was being evasive there in your question, Greg. But, but that is as much information as we can give at the second. And as time goes on, you better believe we're gonna be, as we always have been 100% transparent about every single of the process. And if any of you have any questions at any time, just throw 'em our way, that's easy peasy and do so publicly. Yeah, that's fine. I wanna talk about ETS, our other big announcement. We have another big announcement. Holy moly, Saul, what is ETS and what do we have to do with it? And what does it mean for the future of transitioning veterans getting employed in the great state of Wisconsin?

Saul Newton - WVCC:

Yeah, so it's been a, it's been a very momentous week for us. So with this, with this grant that we received we're able to better serve veteran business owners and entrepreneurs the other big announcement that we actually made last week, but made a splash this week at our, at, at the Wisconsin veterans in the workforce summit that we hosted yesterday is we are partnering with an organization called Wisconsin veterans work, which is based in w in, in Milwaukee, but functions and has operations across the entire state of Wisconsin through

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Every corner of the state. Yeah, they're, they're everywhere.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

As well as the Wisconsin department of veterans affairs to bring to Wisconsin a national program that has already launched in about seven states called ETS sponsorship. ETS sponsorship is an an organization that was formed in partnership with the us department of veterans affairs, as well as the department of defense to sponsor service members through the transition process from military to civilian life foundational to the vet works, Wisconsin approach is a focus on the 12 months between leaving the military and reintegrating into the civilian community. A period of time that's actually known as the deadly gap. And for those of us who have transitioned out of the military and back into civilian life, certainly not across the board, no, there's no such thing as a universal experience for every single service member or veteran, but many, many folks find that transition process to be very difficult with the combined stresses of kind of a perceived loss of purpose geographic relocation, financial uncertainty, and sometimes underlying medical and psychological issues.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

Actually vet veterans going through that process, commits suicide at rates two times higher than civilians in the same age group. And so the pro the goal of this program is to set the conditions for service members to achieve purpose us and prosperity to reduce stress and risk, and to actually have kind of engaged relationships that empower them to be successful once they've left the military in return to, to civilian life. So the program is grounded in a personal relationship between a transitioning service member and a matched volunteer sponsor, living in the community where the future veteran will reside. Service members are actually matched with those sponsors up to a year before they leave active duty, giving them all the time. They need to, to develop a plan for that transition and develop a strong, personal relationship with their sponsor, where they're actually going to be living.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

Once they leave the military, they remain with the program. The service member remains through with the program through their, their graduation, which takes place up to 12 months after leaving the military. And so Wisconsin veterans network connects transitioning service members to sponsors as well as the essential resources and services and, and communities around the state that they need as well as their spouse and their families. So what we're doing is, is pro a soft landing with wraparound support, to every single transitioning service member as they come to to the state. Now, what makes the, what makes Wisconsin different is we are the only state in the country at this point, who is using this as a workforce development initiative. We know that one of the primary challenge is facing our, our business community and our overall economy is availability of talent.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

We could, we could get every single person in the state of Wisconsin, a job tomorrow, and there still would not be enough bodies available to fill the jobs that are, that are need to be filled by employers across the state. So we are being proactive about promoting Wisconsin to transitioning service members and saying, not only is this a place with great benefits, not only is this a place with great resources, but this is a place where you can be economically stable and find a fulfilling employment opportunity once you've left the military. And so our role is developing first, a, a a career and employment platform using AI in the most recent tech to match service members with employment opportunities that they can see that they, they can maintain their standard of, of living that they're not going to have to take a, a, a cut in pay or compensation or benefits.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

But we are also working directly with employers to make sure that they know what it, what the standard is to attract these folks look, unemployment is at the lowest rate it's ever been history of the state. And the unemployment rate for veterans is even lower. So employers are going to need to compete for this highly skilled labor force. And so what we're doing is saying, yes, you're gonna need to compete, but we will show you how to compete for those folks and connect with what I think is the best, most, highly skilled talent pool available. And that's about their families,

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Right on it's exciting stuff. You know, the, the, you know, as you know, you have three people sitting in front of you who served active duty and who accordingly transitioned from active duty at differing points in their career, who, who transitioned honorably from service to the civilian world in the civilian workforce. And all three of us can tell you from personal experience that it is a, it is more than just acquiring a post-service job or a post-service gig. This is a holistic, complete upheaval of your whole life and your family's life. And it is a transition. There's not like you get a job, your tra your, your transitions over this is a, it's a process. It is a long drawn out holistic process. And we have seen in the people that we serve and support so many of these common threads, and I wish I would've known, or I wish I would've done, or I wish I could've, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

But now for the first time, we have a unified place, a landing pad for all of these folks who are going to be transitioning and relocating, or coming back to our state to provide access to these holistic resources and education. So we won't have, so we don't have to worry about people fumbling around with you. I wish I would've known, and we can just get them the help that they need right away and get them on to live in their lives and putting that civilian camouflage on and reintegrating fully. It's a really exciting prospect. And it's

Christian Thornton - WVCC:

Important too, to recognize that, you know, many folks have a, a misconception that this only affects the enlisted service people. You know, it, there's, there's a lot of misconceptions out there. And again, I, it doesn't happen to everybody, but there's a lot of misconceptions that because you were enlisted, you only enlisted because you had no other opportunities available to you. You had no skills, you had no education, et cetera, et cetera. Obviously, particularly those of us who have served, we know that that's not true. Some of the smartest people I I've ever served with were enlisted personnel, but the transition problems that we encounter, or the difficulty in transition is not just limited to enlisted personnel. I have had countless conversations in the last 12 months including, you know, speaking from personal experience where I was an officer, I've spoken to many officers who they go through the same thing, and it doesn't matter if you are, are an E three, an E six, an E eight, an oh five.

Christian Thornton - WVCC:

It doesn't matter. You know, you were used to a certain lifestyle, certain way of doing things and, and making that transition to that civilian side can be difficult. And, and there's no shame in putting your hand up and saying, I don't know where to go. I don't know where to start. You know, as I said before, we don't know what we don't know. And, and rather than full victim to that, this gives us an opportunity as a chamber to really put that information out there, to help people recognize what they don't know and capitalize on, on the opportunities that are available.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Absolutely.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

I, I wanna just follow up on one thing that Christian said, which is not only is that transition process challenging a lot of times for certain risk members, but so often it's military spouses and military families that get overlooked in that process as well, because the service member is not the only one that's transitioning. Their entire family is transitioning right along with them. And a lot of times, as I mentioned, there's, there's geographic relocation. We know that unemployment and under employment is a, a epidemic among military spouses who who are highly educated are even more educated than their civilian peers often have more real world experience. And yet as a, as a part of, of their, their service, they often see employment impacts and other. And so that's, I think what also really separates this program and our role in it is that we're not just focusing on the service matter, we're focusing on their entire family, spouses, children, et cetera.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Absolutely. And Ben just had a great comment. Ben was a guest on our show, not too long ago, talking about veterans and tech and cybersecurity jobs and that kind of workforce pipeline Ben says larger issue at times, the civilian employers glossing over military experience, maybe thinking one for their service, but not actually taking the professional benefit into, or maybe thinking one for their service rather, but not actually taking the professional benefit into account. I mean, there's, there's a laundry list of, of soft and dip and non combat skills that every military member has in common or most military members will have in common. So that's a great, that's a great point point, Ben, and it kind of hearkens to what Christian was saying, you know, the, the, the prevailing mentality amongst non-military folks, at least when I was growing up was that you enlisted, if you didn't wanna go to college, you know, if you weren't educated and didn't have any of the prospects, you, you, you know, I'm sorry, but that narrative if, even if it was ever accurate is not accurate right now, it's just not, I mean, I was an instructor at enlisted, basic training for the air force.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

And I think probably 30 to 40% of the people going through basic training on the enlisted end had a degree or some college that, I mean, that's just the reality. Now it's the way the economy is. It's the way that these, these positions are being placed and, and the attractiveness of these positions and the opportunities that they afford people, you know, so, so we're, we're excited to talk about these issues and to continue to connect through these two big, exciting pieces of news. We are very excited to connect, transitioning veterans to local holistic boots on the ground, hands on support. We're excited to develop Wisconsin's workforce and fill those pipelines with TA with veteran talent and not only avoid unemployment, but underemployment, which is epidemic in the veteran community throughout the state. And we're excited to who expand our programs to help everyone's professional, economic, and business and entrepreneurial opportunities tenfold, a hundredfold. Now this is, if you, if you can't tell, we're very excited about this news, there's so much that we're gonna be able to do with it. It's good stuff. So we we're, we're gonna have to round third and head on home here. Closing thoughts, we'll start with Christian. Do you have anything you'd like to add, sir?

Christian Thornton - WVCC:

Yeah, I, you know, I, I couldn't be more thrilled getting this grant, you know, it was, we went through such a process to get it where we got vetted about a, you know, the programs that we offer, the services that we offer and, and being awarded this grant is, is just gonna open up so many opportunities particularly in, in some of those harder to reach areas, you know, those, those more rural communities. Again, just a couple weeks ago, I was, I was up in central Wisconsin and, and ran inadvertently in into folks that just had so many questions and I'm just so excited and really looking forward to being able to have a much larger presence there and, and be a, a conduit for these questions and, and help people out. So they don't have to struggle, you know, the, the information, the services, the opportunities are there. We just have to bring the pieces together. And, and this is gonna go a long way to doing that.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Does this mean that maybe, perhaps at some point in the future, we could have that's chamber staff in central Wisconsin? Never know, I don't know, like full time, like an office in central Wisconsin

Christian Thornton - WVCC:

Never know

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

SA what do you got closing thoughts?

Saul Newton - WVCC:

Look, I, I think that, I mean, the, these, these are huge transformative programs and opportunities for us and for the communities that we serve. But I, I think what, what I most want people to know is that through these programs and everything else that we, we do and have done over the last five to six years, yes, we are dedicated to supporting veterans and service members and their families because it's the right thing to do because these folks serve their country because they sacrifice because they've, they've, you know, put their country first, but there's also, and I, I think more, even more importantly, the skills, the competencies, the experience that they develop, it's, it, it, it's not about doing something out of the goodness of our hearts. Everybody benefits when veterans and service members succeed. Our, our economy is strengthened. Our workforce is, is improved.

Saul Newton - WVCC:

Our communities are better places to live when we have more veterans in the state of Wisconsin. And those veterans and service members are, are empowered than then everybody, everybody benefits from that. And, and so these programs as, as big and impactful as we know that they, they can and, and will be it's, it's really the veterans and the service members that are providing the service a as they always have you know, they're, they're uniquely situated to really rise the tide for every single person living in the state. And so that, that's always been our mantra when veterans succeed Wisconsin succeeds. And so these programs are just kind of one more tool in the belt for us to make sure that that, that vision becomes reality.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

Yeah, it's a giant $2 million tool that we're gonna be able to club the economy over the head with good stuff. We're very excited about this. Thank you gentlemen, for, for for, for hopping on today, we have the whole crew and who knows the next time you see us, the whole crew might, I don't know, maybe there'll be more of us. I don't know. We'll see, but folks really exciting stuff. And, and again, as I mentioned earlier, if if you have any questions about this, we are, and have always been an open book. You know, we are a nonprofit organization. So I mean, we, you wanna see it, we got it. And so, but we're gonna be as transparent as we can throughout this process B throughout this pro process, rather to ensure that all of, you know, almost dollar for dollar where this stuff is going to be allocated.

Adam Braatz - WVCC:

And like Greg mentioned earlier, what our metrics and measurements for success are, and we will continue to be forthcoming with that. We're gonna be double, we're gonna be tenfold forthcoming with that sort of stuff through our newsletter, through our website, through our various social media outlets. So with that in mind, I would tell you and encourage you look at that scrolling across the bottom there, link tree.com/w I that's chamber follow us on Instagram, follow us on Twitter, follow us on Facebook. If you're still doing the Facebook thing, I don't know who is, but Hey, guess what? We're on TikTok now. So give us a follow there. Why not? We're hip we're trendy. We do short form video, follow us on TikTok to see. So, and Christian doing the hot new dances that everybody's talking about. I'm J just kidding. I'm gonna get in trouble for saying that. I appreciate all of you tuning in upward and onward. All boats are gonna rise together. Thank you all for your support. And you know, let's go do great things in Wisconsin. We'll see you next time. Thank you for listening to Wisconsin veterans forward, brought to you by the Wisconsin veterans chamber of commerce. Please visit us at wiveteranschamber.org. Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast, leave a rating and review in whatever platform you through.