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Public Comments - Speeches

GCAP Conference
May 26, 2011

Good Morning.

I'm Paul Evans.  Thank you for inviting me to participate with you today, and even more importantly - thank you for what you do, every day.

Russ Monk, my employer at High Impact Technology, allowed me to take time today because of his commitment to ensuring veterans’ have an opportunity to engage.

I appreciate his and your willingness to provide this opportunity.

0913 hours, 23 November 1992.  Medina Annex, Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.

I stepped up to the “Ready Line.”

Do you remember when you raised your hand, when you took the oath?

It is important for us to remember that our oaths didn’t include an expiration date.

We serve; it is what we were trained to do, what we are good at doing, and what we know.

This morning, our mission is simple.

We will talk about some our circumstances, we will talk about the importance of veterans' in business, and then we will imagine Our America as it could be - with more veterans' business owners.

To begin, let's define our reality.

There are a little over 2.4 million veteran-owned businesses in the U.S. (at least according to the most current Census Bureau information).

This represents about 9.0% of all businesses nationwide.

These businesses generated about $1.2 Trillion in receipts - roughly 4.1% of all business receipts nationwide: they employed over 5.8 million Americans.

If we count businesses where veterans were majority owners or half-owners, we count 3.7 million businesses: representing 13.5% of all businesses nationwide.

These account for more than $1.6 Trillion in receipts and employ over 8.2 million Americans.

Here in Oregon, we count about 32,400 veteran-owned firms, representing about 9.3% of all businesses statewide.

It is important to note that at last count, over 349,000 veterans called Oregon their home.

So, those are the facts and figures outlining our circumstances.  What do they mean?

In simplest terms, it means that less than 1 of 10 businesses in Oregon is owned by veterans.

It means that 90.7% of businesses - 315,800 of 348,200 firms in Oregon are NOT owned by veterans.

And it means that the vast majority of business owners are not veterans; that decisions made are based upon experiences separate from our own.

This is significant, because the values that bind veterans together are the same values that could strengthen Our America.

Duty, honor, country - these are more than words. 

Integrity, service, and excellence matter.

Sadly, too often Corporate America is focused upon short-term return on investment: its captains of industry have been trained in boardrooms far removed from the factory, not battlefields.

I say this because it is upon the battlefields of our youth that we learned how - and why - integrity, loyalty, and duty make the difference between victory and defeat.

It was where we learned “mission first, people always.”

It was where we learned to take care of our troops; that leaders eat last; that we take risks when necessary for specific purposes required of our mission.

Unfortunately, for those without that sense of perspective, loyalty is too often secondary to the false belief in the primacy of the stockholder.

I believe that if more businesses were owned by veterans – that there were more veterans in corporate boardrooms – the 400:1 ratio of CEO to factory worker wouldn’t exist; that outsourcing would be seen for what it is; and that we wouldn’t sell to our strategic competitors.

Corporations exist because we recognize the utility in a private association of interests organized for collective gain.

But it is vital for us to remember that corporations - subject to charters - have the authorities We the People allow: for the benefit of We the People.

Commerce it was believed by our Founders, was necessary for economic development that would provide the resources for establishing a more perfect Union.

Corporations were established and are sustained for the mutual benefit of the investors and the invested public.  There is a public responsibility that is too often ignored or misunderstood.

Please understand, I do not intend to suggest that non-veterans hate America.

The truth is that most employers do the very best they can to support our veterans.

Most business-owners are as patriotic as non-business owners, in fact - some non-veterans are even more so because of sincere, passionate views about our country.

Our company is blessed to have four such entrepreneurs – they do what is right, even when it may not make not be popular – by common business practice.  It is why I came to work for HIT; it is why I will likely never leave.

But there is an undeniable difference in perspective that cannot, should not, and must not be ignored.

For us, there is something larger than the here and now; something more important than the next quarterly profit report.

For us, being successful means profits – AND progress – AND people.

Success means building Our America, not selling it out.

We didn't join the military to become millionaires; most of us were aware of the pay differentials with our private sector friends, but driven by other motivators.

We wanted to do our part, fulfill our charge, carry our weight and earn our way through serving in uniform.

Most of us still believe that we got the better part of the deal - that for all the personal sacrifice we made - we were given far more than we had any right to expect.

I never really fell in love with America until I was overseas: I never truly appreciated the blessings we enjoy until I saw the stark differences in distant lands.

We wore the uniform of Our America and did so with pride; we accepted service as a solemn duty.

We understand that serving Our America does not stop when we take off our uniform.

We understand that serving Our America means investing profits here at home - not hiding them in off-shore accounts.

We understand that serving Our America means hiring Americans - here, in America.

And we understand that are in a marathon, not a sprint - and that collaboration, coordination, and teamwork are strategies for long-term success - not weaknesses.

When preparing for this conference, I reviewed the available tools at our disposal.

The U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs and the Small Business Administration provide a virtual banquet of assistance, guidance, and support.

Over the past several years, the State of Oregon has led from the front in demanding our state government - and those of our sister states - reach out to veterans and explain the benefits earned through their service.

It is amazing to see how far we have come over the past years.  And if I had any doubts, they were erased in October 2010.

President Obama signed the Veterans' Benefits Act of 2010 - an increase in funding and programming in a time when most other agencies were being cut.

In Section 104 of this law, VA's authorities to protect veterans', their families, and survivors who have veterans-owned businesses were expanded.

Funds were included to expand available grants, mentoring programming, and loans.

And set-asides for veteran-owned businesses were expanded paving the way for more government contract opportunities for those willing to work for Uncle Sam.

Right now, the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) at the VA is an advocate - for you, for us, and for Our America.

The Center for Veteran Enterprise is a force-multiplier for small veteran-owned businesses; it was created and has been sustained to help veterans with a dream and a willingness to work for that dream - achieve it.

Across the nation there are Small Business Administration regional support teams.

And there are directories, networks, and websites specifically designed to help a veteran-owner connect with the resources necessary for success.

Our America has begun to refill the reservoir of trust with our veterans; we were not prepared for the impact of a decade-long war - nor a Great Recession.

But we have made forward progress, and we must recognize that there exists a foundation upon which we can build.

Earlier I mentioned the progress made here in Oregon.  For just a moment, I want to explain how that work relates.

In 2008 Governor Kulongoski empowered a task force to review veterans' education, employment, healthcare, housing, and retirement programming.

Mr. Tino Ornelas, sitting in the front row, was a big part of that effort as an Advisory Board member for the ODVA.

We compiled a report with thirty-nine specific recommendations; thirty of those recommendations became the law.

Since that time, follow-on task forces related to reintegration, transportation, and women's health were established and made recommendations; fifteen of those recommendations became the law (or are on their way to becoming law as the 2011 Legislature draws to a close).

These actions have been coordinated: all part of a strategic plan for providing veterans' as much opportunity as possible.

We expanded veterans' educational opportunities through increasing direct assistance, deploying Veteran Service Officers (VSOs) to college campuses, developing partnerships for apprenticeships, and made all veterans' state residents for purposes of tuition.

These steps help prepare veterans' for the responsibilities of owning and operating a business in the modern economy.

Oregon also expanded eligibility for ORVET home loans, increased access for healthcare, and continues to seek ways to make transportation for veterans' easier.

These steps free up capital for investment in a small business.  We know it is hard to start out, and we have worked hard to ensure that as many other costs as possible have been kept in check.

And in Oregon we have emphasized the requirements of private and public employers to hire, support, and sustain veteran employees.

These steps will provide a ready workforce for your businesses; for soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines seeking that first job after the military - it is vital that they be given an opportunity to develop a work history.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

And the whole is not merely to provide veterans' added opportunities for its own sake; rather we did these things because we wanted to empower veterans' for the next mission.

It is time for veterans to answer the call of service once again.

It is time for veterans to invest ourselves in development of a new economy: an economy based upon value-driven decision-making.

And it is time for veterans to reinvigorate our economy through a personal commitment with Our America.

For just a moment, consider the following: Congress has its fewest veterans as members than any time in the last one-hundred, fifty years.

Is it a coincidence that we are fighting two wars and supporting military operations in forty others?

Whatever your views on Afghanistan and Iraq - and I have many myself - even as a veteran of both - it is impossible not to at least consider that had we more members of Congress that had worn the uniform - the last decade would have been at least a little different.

It is that same intangible spirit - that same understanding that few share - that we must invest in our businesses.

Owning a business in Our America is no longer something that is "nice" to do; it is now something that those with the talent, time, and treasure to do so - must do.

Our America is at risk; unless there is a systemic change in how we compete in the modern global marketplace - we will falter, we will tire, and we will fail.

So the choice is ours - literally - ours.

We can sit on the sidelines and watch as the greatest experiment in freedom and opportunity stumbles, or we can put our doubts aside and step up to the ready-line.

There is help available.

There are coaches and mentors eager to assist.

And there are areas of economic activity that are waiting for your investment of creativity, drive, and can-do entrepreneurial spirit.

Imagine Our America where 20% of all businesses are veteran-owned.

Imagine Our America where 40% of all businesses are partially veteran-owned.

Imagine the power we would have to recast business culture throughout our community, our state, our nation, and our world.

Imagine an America where we are all committed to reframing how we do business.

I want to close today with a comment my grandfather used to remind us on the farm.

He told us that there is a vast difference between interest and commitment.

In fact, he told us that the best way to see that difference is to look at a ham omelet: the chicken is interested, the hog is committed.

We need fewer chickens, and more hogs.

Oregon has 349,000 veterans ready, willing, and able to help you catapult your dream into a new reality.

Let us renew our commitment to rebuilding Our America, Our Oregon, and Our Communities - one new veteran-owned business at a time.

Thank you.