Pilot program offers military veterans free help to start their own businesses
When Army veteran Trevor Shirk started his digital marketing business, the reality of civilian business life hit him hard.
“In the military, you step into a role and there’s already a team built around it,” says Shirk, 31. “But when you start a business, you’re an army of one.”
Shirk’s Denver-based company, Strattex Solutions, has taken wing in part due to his joining the WeWork pilot program — which rolls out nationally Veteran’s Day — that provided him with free office space, a special networking gathering spot and access to various mentorship programs.
“The synergy is really powerful,” says Shirk, who helped hunt for improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan as an Army engineer in 2010 and 2011. “I met other veterans and other entrepreneurs in the program, and I felt less like an island.”
The new WeWork Veterans in Residence program
will welcome 10 military veterans in 10 U.S. cities, each of whom are invited to spend six months rent free at a WeWork building in Los Angeles, Austin, San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit and Denver.
The initiative, which will take applications online at www.we.co/veterans, also includes on-site business counseling from Bunker Labs, a national nonprofit focused on helping veterans and their spouses launch their own businesses.
“They gave to us, now we’re giving back to them,” WeWork CEO Adam Neumann told USA TODAY. “It’s not just about providing a work space that hopefully is inspiring, it’s also about sharing ideas and being part of a community.”
Bunker Labs CEO Todd Connor says helping fellow veterans launch businesses makes sense given that many return from their service with organizational skills and a global perspective.
“At 18, many of these people made a bold decision to do something ambitious,” he says. “Now they’re back with experience, leadership skills and a strong work ethic just looking for their next mission.”
Connor notes that during the Denver pilot program, WeWork veterans were able to not only connect with other veterans but also make valuable contacts among people with experience building start-ups. “Veterans only talking to veterans is a disservice, it keeps them bifurcated,” he says.
Kerrie Gill, 28, spent part of 2012 in Africa as part of the Ohio Air National Guard. That experience led her to found Savanna Sandals, flip-flops made from recycled tires, which she incubated during the WeWork program in Denver. “I sold many pairs to people around the (WeWork) office, which allowed me to get direct feedback,” Gill says.
Those eligible for the WeWork program include all veterans and military spouses who want to start or scale a new business. After completing the sixmonth program, graduates get 25% off their rent for a year.
Independent of the initiative, WeWork is offering all veterans and veteran-owned businesses with fewer than
10 employees the same 25% off rent for
12 months.
Recent veterans could well use the break. Unemployment rates for all veterans was 4.3% in 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But among the 3.9 million classified as Gulf War Era II veterans (September 2001 forward), the combined unemployment rate for men and women was 5.1%. The national unemployment rate in early October was 4.12%.
Veterans increasingly have been a target for assistance from big companies and start-ups alike, ranging from Microsoft’s 18-week training program to San Francisco-based Shift, which bills itself as a recruiting pipeline for veterans. There’s also a VET TEC Act bill making its way through Congress, which in a modern twist on the G.I. Bill would seed a veterans computer education program with $75 million.
Neumann won’t say how much WeWork is investing in the new program but says around 1,500 veterans will run through it over the next five years. WeWork, which was founded in 2010 by the onetime Israeli Navy officer, now has 170 locations in 58 cities and 19 countries.
WeWork has become a commercial real estate force with a $20 billion valuation, thanks in part to a $4.4 billion investment by Softbank last summer.
The company recently bought the fabled Lord & Taylor department store in midtown Manhattan for $850 million and plans to use it for office space as well as its global headquarters. WeWork has thrown lavish parties with performers such as Wyclef Jean and has even announced plans for a kindergarten that is part of a larger education vision.
WeWork’s high-flying ways have drawn questions.
A recent Wall Street Journal article posited that WeWork had echoes of other overvalued tech start-ups, noting that its valuation was equal to that of Boston Properties, which has five times the office space.
Neumann scoffs at the notion that his company is either based on hype or anchored to a real estate play.
“There’s no need to justify our valuation,” Neumann says in response to questions about whether it can live up to that premium valuation. “The ‘ We generation’ is asking for more meaning and impact from everything, including their office space. We’re building communities.”