Wisconsin Veterans Chamber of Commerce vice president Zach Zabel joined the chamber with the intention of “filling a gap” in veteran workforce development across the state.
When the chamber’s former founding chief executive officer Saul Newton hired Zabel, Zabel asked where to begin with the new workforce initiatives, to which Newton answered, “I don’t know, figure it out,” according to Zabel.
Since then, the WVCC and its two flagship programs, Invest in Vets and Command Post, have grown from 167 members to 402 members in two years, a 140% increase.
“We identified a massive gap,” said Zabel. “There’s a lot of veteran-friendly companies that want to be better at veteran hiring, veteran development, veteran retention … but they don’t know how.”
Command Post and Invest in Vets were both created to aid companies in hiring veterans and creating environments conducive with a veteran’s skillset and work habits.
The WVCC is partnered with several prominent companies such as Fiserv, Froedtert Health, Versiti Inc., the Green Bay Packers, Deloitte and Johnson Financial Group.
On the backend, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, works across the state using specialists to aid veterans in finding work. Many veterans report that getting a job is easy, but changing careers or starting a new trade is not, said Zabel.
Zabel and the WVCC share a common goal of readying businesses to hire and retain veterans after they have utilized resources like those at the Department of Workforce Development to get a foot in the door.
Journey to the WVCC
After enlisting in the U.S. Navy freshly out of high school, Zabel served for six years as an electronics technician deployed onboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.
Upon his return, Zabel earned a business degree at UW-Oshkosh, worked in sales for a short time and then returned to UW-Oshkosh to earn an MBA. Currently, Zabel is a candidate for a doctoral degree in business administration at UW-Whitewater and maintains his role as vice president of the WVCC and founder and executive director of Tech for Vets, a nonprofit organization focused on community gaming and tech education.
On the cusp of writing his doctoral dissertation on “non-veteran hiring professionals’ inability to assess veteran leadership and potential,” Zabel is making strides to curate the WVCC programs and continue the growth seen over the past two years.
Getting companies to trust the process has proved challenging for Zabel as many prospective clients are curious about the history and credibility of the program.
“What’s very difficult, like everything I do, is the fact that it’s brand new,” said Zabel.
[caption id="attachment_600317" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Zach Zabel[/caption]
"There’s a lot of veteran-friendly companies that want to be better at veteran hiring, veteran development, veteran retention … but they don’t know how.”
Investing in the programs
WVCC’s Command Post program serves small, veteran-owned businesses looking to navigate the ins and outs of entrepreneurship.
On the other hand, the Invest in Vets program serves larger businesses in facilitating best-practice hiring methods and employee resource groups. Its goal is to promote ongoing growth in veteran-friendly companies, as opposed to completing a course to earn a badge or certificate.
Participating companies are offered year-long memberships on a trial basis through the WVCC with the expectation that if the program proves effective, the company will continue its membership through its completion.
Membership fees vary from $2,500 to $10,000 depending on the size of the company and the investment in the program.
For larger companies, the program can extend well beyond a one-year period, such is the case for Marathon-based manufacturer County Materials Corp.
[caption id="attachment_600313" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Rebecca Sonnentag[/caption]
Invest in Vets MVP
County Materials Corp. is WVCC’s only Gold Member, its highest level of membership.
As part of its membership, company executives receive one-on-one training on how to facilitate pro-veteran hiring and onboarding practices as well as ERGs that support long-term veteran growth and development in the company.
The Invest in Vets program helped County Materials rewrite job descriptions to better suit the language of veterans and create company-sanctioned ERGs to better connect with its veteran population.
The company sought the services of the WVCC to showcase its openness and value of veteran skills and character traits, said Rebecca Sonnentag, executive vice president of marketing and communication for County Materials.
“They’re helping us answer questions like, are we providing the right resources to veterans? Do we know how to engage with the veterans on our staff? How can we improve the work environment that we offer so that it’s more welcoming and engaging?” said Sonnentag.
The world of manufacturing and the experiences veterans have from duty are not entirely different, according to Sonnentag.
“There’s a lot of hands-on work, problem-solving skills and working in teams in manufacturing,” she said. “Some of these skills come from shared experiences that veterans had while serving.”
County Materials just hit its one-year mark with the Invest in Vets program and plans to remain a member until the program is complete. As a part of the continuation of the program, County Materials will begin consolidating takeaways from the ERGs and putting them into practice for future groups.
The best way to succeed in the program is to invest in the practices and direction given by the WVCC team, according to Sonnentag.
In addition to County Materials’ commitment to the Invest in Vets program, the philanthropic arm of the company, the Sonnentag American Foundation, is using learned information from the program to identify a community need for veteran support.
The Sonnentag Family Foundation supports veteran initiatives surrounding PTSD counseling, career training, re-entry into the workforce, housing, mental health and legal assistance.
