Employment, in service of veterans

When I was very young, much of life in our home revolved around the kitchen. Back then, most people didn't have a large family room with a fireplace or what we now call a “great room” to enjoy. Maybe, at best, they had a fixed-up basement with knotty pine paneling and some carpeting. Or, perhaps you had a converted garage with some unique furniture, a makeshift bar and some cool knickknacks. You know, that place where you retreat to and feel like you made it in this world.

To my family, it was the kitchen. And in those days, people popped in to visit often. On Sundays, an entire family would pull up in a station wagon loaded with happy people. Back then, everyone had lots of children, and within minutes of their arrival, our house would become a virtual madhouse of screaming children and gabby parents.

My favorite was Friday, when my uncles would pop in when it was already past my bedtime. They would come after attending a high school football or basketball game, and my dad was only too happy to feed them and share stories. There was always some good food, beer and lots of war stories around that kitchen table. And, as was common in the not-so-health-conscious '50s and '60s, cigarette smoke. Secondhand smoke in that kitchen was almost as abundant as the alluring conversation.

I still can't seem to get enough of two of those old-school visit activities today. People — and that's been by far the primary asset to my professional life — and food. Food has been the constant challenge to my being at a healthy weight throughout my life.

Many of my uncles served in the Army in World War II, and did they have stories! I'd hang on every word. Like most vets, they were humble, hard-working types. And the stories they told were more cathartic than they were braggadocious. Most true servers tend to be humble, and the majority of our veterans certainly are.

My uncle Bobby was stationed in Greenland. He had a Greenland jacket and that jacket was as captivating as his stories. My uncle Jim was in Germany, which seemed like a fascinating place in another far-away universe. My uncle Herb was in Alaska. Like most who served back then, he got a tattoo on his arm. At that time, tattoos weren't the works of art we see today. They were one-word tributes to mom or maybe someone or something that elicited emotion to them during their service.

At the Chamber, we've embarked on a veterans and military initiative. Frank Facchiano, a veteran, and Tim Brooks, a Pennsylvania National Guard officer, are working hard along with the Chamber's Alison Pickel and our partners at the

Workforce Board Lehigh Valley to build this important initiative.

Our purpose is to raise the visibility of veterans while focusing on the strengths they bring to an organization or business. Those strengths are in areas like dependability, integrity, reliability, decision-making and so much more. We want to provide veteran-to-veteran access as well as entry to jobs and other income-producing opportunities.

But, like most of our chambers and councils, it will also be a place to share with people of like minds. Most of all, we want to shift the discussion from the challenges many return home with to the incredible assets they bring to the table.

Did you know that 102 members of Congress have served in the military and that 23 veterans are current or recently retired heads of Fortune 500 companies?

According to data from the Small Business Administration, there are 2.4 million veteranowned firms in America. Those 2.4 million firms employ more than 5.8 million individuals. Fortunately, the jobless rate for veterans is on-par with our national unemployment rate of 3.7 percent. Great strides are being made for our veterans and active duty men and women, but we still have a long way to go.

So, Veterans Day is just around the corner. It's a perfect time to thank a veteran, treat a veteran to lunch or connect a veteran with a job opportunity. You see, these people are giving of their lives for us. But they're doing it in countries far from here, so we're often unaware of their sacrifices. But I can assure you they are sacrificing. They sign up because they want to build a lifetime legacy. They sign

up for duty because they care. They care about you, they care about this great country and they're willing, if necessary, to lay their lives on the line for it.

They call it “going into the service” for a reason. As I see it, it's service like no other because we all have only one wonderful life to live.

To be willing to lay something of that supreme value on the line is by far the ultimate service.