1. COMMENTARY42 LOS ANGELES BUSINESS JOURNAL NOVEMBER 11, 2013
MARY VALLARTA
Chief Executive
FAB Counsel
I’m more of an optimist. I
think employment will get bet-
ter. The millennials are a big
group. By 2017 they will out-
number baby boomers in pur-
chasing power, by 2030 they
will be the biggest demograph-
ic for buying power. There’s
going to be many opportunities
for them to innovate and start businesses.
DAMIEN BREEN
Founder
Frozen Frog Yogurt
I see unemployment as being the new nor-
mal. I don’t see it getting better any time soon.
The economy is still on a down slope and peo-
ple are still taking advantage of disability and
unemployment benefits as much as they can. I
don’t see small businesses growing and it’s a
direct relation to unemployment numbers.
ANGELA BICKERMAN
Owner
Bonita Interiors
I was shocked when I was looking for a new
employee. I put an ad on Craigslist and I got 400
resumes. Most resumes were overqualified and it
made me sad. It’s going to get better. It depends
on Congress to get through initiatives on unem-
ployment once tea party politicians are no longer
in office. Unemployment is not the new normal.
LABJ FORUM
By JAMES BOGLE
I
recently had the privilege of hearing Jake
Wood speak to a conference at USC on the
state of veterans’ affairs. As the co-founder and
chief executive of Team Rubicon in El Segundo,
Wood conveyed his inspiring and unorthodox story
of how he mobilized a group of veterans to make a
profound difference in the world.
Like many veterans, Wood returned to civilian
life after serving as a U.S. Marine in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and he was searching for a career
that offered the sense of purpose and mission that
defined his military experience. Images of devas-
tation wrought by the January 2010 earthquake in
Haiti spurred him to take the skills he had gained
in the Marine Corps and join the relief efforts.
With a small group of friends who were also
veterans, Wood and his team went to the most
inaccessible, difficult places in the country —
down rugged hillsides and up steep mountains —
to dig people out of rubble and save lives. It made
perfect sense to them; it was what they were
trained to do.
Later in 2010, along with former Marine
William McNulty, he co-founded Team Rubicon
to provide worldwide disaster response while
offering a sense of purpose and community to
veterans reintegrating into civilian society. Since
the initial experience in Haiti, Team Rubicon has
brought together thousands of veterans to respond
to natural disasters around the world, from Sudan
to Burma to Pakistan to New Jersey to Colorado.
As I listen to the stories of people like Wood, I
am struck by the place in society today’s veterans
are crafting for themselves. Flying Scarfs, a self-
identified “peace capitalism” enterprise in
Raleigh, N.C., imports hand-woven products
from Afghanistan, Haiti and Africa to support
microeconomic development in countries where
its co-founders, four Air Force fighter pilots, have
been deployed.
Perhaps the most successful of today’s veteran
advocacy organizations, Iraq Afghanistan
Veterans Association and Got Your 6, were both
initiatives of post-9/11 veterans. Here in Los
Angeles, two veterans of Iraq have succeeded in
unifying hundreds of veterans of all ages working
in the entertainment industry by founding
Veterans in Film and Television.
In the political arena, where the number of
senators and congressmen who have served in
our nation’s armed forces is at a 60-year low, the
number of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in
Congress is growing. Currently, 18 of the 90 vet-
erans in Congress earned their stripes — or bars
— in the post-9/11 era. And the number who ran
for House and Senate seats at the federal level in
2012 was more than 40.
Cause for optimism
It should provide cause for optimism to see
that in this period of political fragmentation and
economic fragility, veterans are coming home
from service throughout the world and dedicating
their leadership skills, ingenuity and tenacity to
creating social, political and business solutions.
The mantra of business today is that we operate
in a global environment and we need to understand
different cultures to connect with markets. A large
percentage of veterans have traveled throughout the
world — they are stationed in more than 150 coun-
tries — and they have gained invaluable cross-cul-
tural experiences that they needed to help people on
the ground, whether it was in the Middle East,
Africa or Eastern Europe. Veterans understand all
too well what businesses need: Organizations and
their employees must understand the nuances of
culture in order to be successful.
Business leaders talk about the pressing need
for people who are nimble and can change direc-
tion quickly; these are skills that veterans begin to
acquire day one from their training. And there is
the idea that organizations must have people who
can deal with crises calmly and effectively in a
world of 24-hour information overload and global
demands. Wood and Team Rubicon embody
these characteristics, and if veterans understand
anything, it is the idea that they must operate with
what Ernest Hemingway called a “cold head”
during difficult situations.
As we reflect on Veterans Day, it is right to
focus on the past and America’s proud tradition
of military service. At the same time, post-9/11
veterans are looking forward to a future that they
believe they can influence for the better. Their
actions and innovations demonstrate that today’s
veterans, even those who bear the scars of war,
are committed to taking on new challenges and
transforming America.
Retired Lt. Col. James Bogle is a U.S. Army vet-
eran and is program director of the Master of
Business for Veterans program at the USC
Marshall School of Business.
Marshaling Workforce
Help
Unwanted
While the recovery continues, the jobless rate
hasn’t moved down proportionally. So the
Business Journal asks:
Do you expect some real
employment improvement soon
or is this the new normal?
Los Angeles Business Journal Poll
Do you expect some real employment
improvement soon or is this the
new normal?
Online results for week ended Nov. 6
Expect some real improvement soon.
This is the new normal.
13%
87%
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Military veterans tap their
unique experiences to boost
businesses and America.
Vallarta