Smooth transition
Jared Bowman is a U.S. Army veteran of Afghanistan,who works as a water resource coordinator at Range Resources at Southpointe.
Jared Bowman, a U.S. Army veteran of Afghanistan, works in his office at Range Resources at Southpointe. Bowman said the skills he learned in the military have helped him in his civilian career.
When Jared Bowman was a U.S. Army transport officer in Afghanistan, he and the soldiers under his command risked their lives during long work days to drive fuel and other supplies to combat units at remote sites.
After making many deliveries – often under great duress – they’d head back to base looking forward to some rest.
“We made sure it got from Point A to Point B,” said Bowman, 27, a Canonsburg native who today works for Range Resources in Southpointe. “But sometimes, Army logistics can get a little chaotic. We’d get back to base at 9:30 p.m., looking for some downtime, and someone would say, ‘Hey, you have to go back out. These guys need it; get it there however you’re going to get it there.'”
Today, when Bowman goes to work at Range, he’s in logistics again, this time as a water resource coordinator, helping to ensure that water trucks arrive on time at natural gas drilling sites.
Bowman said his time in the service, especially in highly challenging situations, is a plus for the work he does now. And his employer agrees.
Bowman and co-worker Daniel Waters, a safety specialist at Range and a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan, exemplify the adaptability of some veterans to certain types of work in civilian life.
Area workforce officials say there are a number of careers and jobs that are complementary to skills veterans may possess.
Waters, 29, of Burgettstown, a safety specialist at Range for two years, agreed his military experience is a plus for certain kinds of work in civilian life.
He served tours of duty that included six months in Afghanistan as a team leader in the infantry, and in Iraq as a sergeant and team leader for an infantry scout platoon. After discharge, he was an ironworker before using his G.I. benefits to attend Slippery Rock University, where he earned a degree in safety. Upon graduation, he had several job offers to work in safety management.
“Whenever I came back from the military in 2009, I had no idea I’d be working in my backyard,” he said.
Both Bowman and Waters credit the Army with helping them prepare for work in civilian life. Both mentioned the Army Career and Alumni Program which offers those either retiring or awaiting discharge help with preparing for work, including assistance with résumé writing and interview techniques to listings of job opportunities with federal, state and local governments and civilian agencies.
“When you’re transitioning out, you’re kind of on your own,” but are required to take classes to prepare for a career as well as to learn about veterans benefits that are available,” Bowman said.
“You can’t get out unless you complete the classes.”
Waters added that the military employs consulting companies to help soldiers with job and career searches before discharge.
Both men described another parallel between their military experience and the work they do at Range: learning from others who have been on the job longer.
“You had people shooting at you; they were trying to kill you,” Waters said of the importance of learning how to stay safe by working as a team with others in the field. Bowman, a graduate of St. Vincent College, added that while he arrived in Iraq as a second lieutenant, he was told to think less about his rank and focus on learning from those in his unit who had been there longer.
Working at Range “is a different mentality when no one’s life is on the line,” Bowman said, adding that being in those situations in the military “helps you maintain your composure” when challenges do arise.
“There are a lot of vets in oil and gas,” Waters said. “On my first day here I met a half dozen people who were veterans,” adding that their experience helps them relate to work that often requires longer hours in a variety of conditions.
“It’s not a surprise that we have so many veterans,” Range spokesman Mark Windle said. “Their skills are so complementary to so many of the things we do.”
While the oil and gas industry is in a downturn and isn’t hiring, there are many other opportunities for veterans who are looking for work or considering career preparation.
Those involved with workforce development in Washington and Greene County noted that veterans should always identify themselves as such when they register to look for work at any PA CareerLink office for several reasons, not the least of which is the priority they receive from the designation.
Besides the Washington office in Millcraft Center, CareerLink offices are in Waynesburg, Donora and Beaver.
Not all veterans who are looking for work are in need of other services, noted Carl North, a program supervisor at the Washington office.
While the office’s case management service “is more or less working with vets with barriers to employment,” most can proceed directly with their job search, he said.
“They have an idea of what they want to do,” North said. “Some just need help getting a résumé done.”
But CareerLink offers a number of services, including job search planning and guidance, online job search strategies, apprenticeship and union information, civil service and government job opportunities, as well as training and education available through the G.I. Bill, on-the-job training and the veterans workforce investment program.
The offices also provide referrals for medical, housing and utility assistance and other community services.
Most important, veterans receive priority of service and first access to CareerLink’s resources and assistance from the agency’s veterans representative, who, like them, is a veteran.
The other big advantage to having veteran status, especially when searching for a job, is that CareerLink’s system matches vets with employers who have specified a desire to hire veterans.
“When an employer does a job search, all vets come up first,” North said.
Amy Derrico, vice president with Southwest Training Services, which provides job training programs in Washington and Greene counties, noted that veterans also have access to training money whenever it’s available.
“A recently discharged veteran is considered a dislocated worker,” she said, explaining that the agency has $8,000 available over a two-year period per person to help toward the cost of training, and that qualifying veterans can also add that amount to their G.I. Bill benefits.
The funds are made available from the Washington Greene County Job Training Agency, which works with veterans and other displaced workers in those two counties as well as in Beaver County.
WGCJTA President Ami Gatts said that while the money is currently tied up in the state budget impasse, training programs have agreed to accept qualified applicants and take an IOU for when the money becomes available.
North estimated that the Washington office sees around 110 veterans a month, about 10 percent of its monthly client base. He said veterans visiting the office are about 70 percent men and 30 percent women between 24 and 30 years old.
Southwest Training President Lisa Neil and North noted that despite the downturn in oil and gas, the Washington office receives between 40 and 60 new job orders a month from employers across a broad spectrum of industries, including health care and manufacturing.
For veterans who may be considering starting a business of their own, and becoming a “vetrepreneur,” the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Pittsburgh District Office can help them turn their ideas into the American dream of small business ownership.
“Before you purchase that ‘open for business’ sign, you’ll want to take advantage of our free business counseling,” said Washington County resident Kelly Hunt, director of the Pittsburgh office, who is a U.S. Air Force veteran and small business owner. “Through our network of resource partners, we offer free and confidential counseling at our network of Small Business Development Centers and SCORE – volunteer counselors to America’s small business.” The counseling helps to obtain assistance in developing a business plan, as well as learning how to access the money needed to start an enterprise.
Hunt added that while her office’s services are open to everyone, it has some special initiatives for veterans. “Not only can veterans take advantage of our free business counseling, but they can also take ‘The First and Second Step’ classes for free,” she said, adding that the classes, taught by SBDC or SCORE professionals, cover the nuts and bolts of small business ownership.
The SBA loan programs include the Veterans Advantage, which offers a zero percent upfront servicing fee on loans between $150,001 and $350,000 to qualified veterans and their spouses. Veterans can have their local lenders work with the SBA’s Pittsburgh office to ensure the checklist of materials that verify veteran status is complete.
In the last three years, the Pittsburgh SBA has administered 52 loans to veterans in 27 counties, totaling more than $12 million. Those numbers include seven loans for $449,600 to Washington County veterans.
“We wish we had more vets seeking loans,” said Dan Reitz, executive director of Washington County Council on Economic Development, which administers SBA loans in Washington and Greene counties and in West Virginia.
Veterans interested in SBA counseling programs or classes should contact the University of Pittsburgh SBDC or the Pittsburgh SCORE chapter. For more information on SBA programs, including those for veterans, call 412-395-6560.