Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Ricoh USA employees on Lifetime TV program
Chesco-based employee to discuss transition from military to civilian life
Three employees of Ricoh USA will be appearing on a Lifetime TV program.
UWCHLAN >> Three employees of Ricoh USA will be appearing on a Lifetime TV program that focuses on veterans making the transition from the military back to civilian life. One of those employees is based at Ricoh’s headquarters in Uwchlan, Chester County.
“Military Makeover: Operation Career” is a program hosted by military veteran and television personality Montel Williams. The magazine style show travels the country to capture stories of military veterans and organizations that offer educational and employment opportunities to veterans.
Brian Brockson and two other Ricoh employees will appear on “Military Makeover: Operation Career,” airing on Lifetime TV on Friday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 a.m., with an encore showing on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 7:30 a.m.
The segment featuring the Ricoh employees will tell the stories of how each one of them transferred skills learned in the military to build successful careers at the imaging and electronics company.
Brockson served as a captain in the Army and is now vice president of Ricoh USA’s Supply Chain. Brockson has been with the company since 2012. On the program, he shares how his experience on the Army flight crew evolved into a leadership role at Ricoh.
He said his participation in the program was a chance to share why he believes Ricoh’s commitment to the military and employees is “unmatched,” and a story worth telling.
“I think for me personally, Ricoh has been a great work environment for me and lever
aged the skills I learned in the military. There is a very diverse work environment in both the military and the company. Ricoh is a very good fit from a veterans stand point,” Brockson said.
The other two employees participating in the program are: Cassie Hill, based in Atlanta, Ga. and Andrew Janovicz, based in Indianapolis, Ind. On the program, Hill discusses how her time in the National Guard equipped her with skills that have enabled her to build a career at Ricoh; while Janovicz shares how four years of active duty in the Marine Corps led him to a career at Ricoh. Janovicz continues to be in the Marine Reserves, and as a Marine for Life representative he helps transitioning Marines and families find new opportunities in civilian life.
Making the transition from military to civilian life presents some challenges, according to Brockson, but he added that many of the skills learned in the military are transferable — things like working as a team, leadership and accomplishing a mission, or objective.
“That’s what draws companies like Ricoh to veterans — because they bring skill set to the workforce that is important,” he said.
Brockson said he got involved in the project when his manager told him the company was considering doing a segment for the show, and asked if he might be interested in participating.
“It sounded interesting. I had never done anything like that before. It was well outside my comfort zone, but I said I would do it,” he said.
Following a couple of planning sessions, the segment was recorded by the show’s production crew and completed in one day, according to Brockson. The segment was recorded at two Ricoh facilities in the Atlanta, Ga., area — at a warehouse facility in Lawrenceville, Ga. and a customer experience and engineering center in Tucker, Ga.
“It was a good experience. It was an honor to represent the Ricoh vets. We have a large number of them at the company and I was one of the few chosen,” Brockson added.
The “Military Makeover: Operation Career” segment also includes footage from Ricoh’s fifth annual Run for Heroes event, which raises funds for veterans’ charities. This year’s run was held the day after the segment was recorded.
According to the company, Ricoh USA has increased its commitment to veteran hiring in recent years.
“Our strong commitment to veterans and their families is a company-wide priority, supported through internal infrastructure and partnerships with third-party veteran organizations,” said Donna Venable, executive vice president of human resources and deputy general manager, shared services, Ricoh Americas. “Ricoh is proud to serve the veteran job seeker community and we have again exceeded the federal hiring benchmark for veterans even while unemployment rates for veterans have continued to decrease.”
Venable added that the company works to help “ease the transition” back into the workplace.
“Ricoh values the importance of continued career development, and provides extensive training and development opportunities to help its employees work smarter,” she said. “Veterans are encouraged to take charge of their careers by continuing their education, taking advantage of internal training programs and tuition reimbursement benefits that can be used to further their college education.”
She added that veterans are proven achievers who understand the value of perseverance, “perhaps better than anyone.”
“They are excellent teammates,” she added.
Specific information about the number of veterans employed by Ricoh was not available.
In March 2018, Ricoh USA was recognized for its efforts in support of veterans, receiving the Best Veteran Hiring Award as part of the Coalition for Government Procurement’s annual Excellence in Partnership Awards. To learn more, visit www.ricoh-usa.com/veterans.
Ricoh is a leading provider of document management solutions, IT services, communications services, commercial and industrial printing, digital cameras, and industrial systems. For further information, please visit www.ricoh.com.