 Aloha and welcome to Reg Baker Business in Hawaii. We broadcast live every Thursday from 2 to 2.30 from the downtown studios of Think Tech Hawaii and Pioneer Plaza. We are a show that highlights success in Hawaii of businesses and individuals and organizations that support businesses. Today we're going to talk a little bit with the Military Transition Council, it's called Master C. They've been guests here before. This is a returning event for them, so I just want to welcome both Craig and Chase back to the show. Good to have you here. Thanks for having us, Reg. Great to be back on the show again and we're excited to provide you with some updates. Alright, very good. Well, and there's been a lot going on. You guys have been awful busy for the last six months. Can you give us a little bit of an update on what you've been up to? Yeah, absolutely. So the biggest milestone that we achieved since the last time we spoke was actually we're now a registered 501C3 corporation, a non-profit organization here in the state of Hawaii. Our mission, I think we've finally sharpened our knife a little bit and we've come to a realization that our organization is now going to be focusing on employment services, on community engagement and enrichment and also crisis management. So those are the three products of our business. We've learned a lot of lessons, yeah. And this is related to military in Hawaii and how to make it more comfortable for them here and maybe even help with the transition into the community. That's right. So we're absolutely focused on military transition population, whether they're new on island and they've never been to Hawaii and they really want to engage and integrate or whether they're looking to end their military career here in their military family, looking to call Hawaii home. Very good. And we talked a little bit about this in the show a few months ago, but we've got here in Hawaii a very low retention rate for military transitioning out into the civilian employment. Can you kind of refresh us a little bit on what that rate is? Yeah, absolutely. The current transition rate in Hawaii or the retention rate of veterans that have made the determination of their service is at 3%. Comparatively, if we look at the mainland, we actually see about a 33% retention rate at other military locations. Big difference. Huge difference. Yeah. And the things we just touched on last time we were here, Reg, were the economic impacts. As you know, the GI bill was $112,000 over 36 months. The VA home loan is in the mid $500,000 range. We've, through some of our economic modeling, been able to share with the state that every veteran, not even including his family, is up to $144,000 total economic commerce created annually. So it's a compounded benefit with more veterans than in Hawaii. Of course. And you take the individuals that come out and you add these dollars up on a family basis. I mean, it starts piling up pretty quick. Absolutely. The value. Our company is looking to actually increase that retention rate from 3% or we want to get it to about 10% annually. Part of our efforts in doing that is showing that Hawaii is a place that can provide a sustainable living for veterans after transition. Upfront, Reg, we understand not everyone's meant to stay in Hawaii. There are certain folks that probably can't make it or that aren't interested in it. But there's a lot of people and we've talked to classrooms and classrooms times 100 now of folks that say they wish they could, they just don't think it's possible. Well they don't know how to start, they don't know where to begin. In some cases have kind of an isolated living style while they're in the military and now all of a sudden they're going to start transitioning out. There are certain things that they need to be doing to kind of get comfortable with that process to integrate into the community. For sure and part of the process that is already federally mandated right now is the Transition Assistance Program or TAP as it's known. That program offers essentially a shotgun amount of resources. As soon as you approach the program they basically give you about a five day intensive workshop that by the time you get done it's usually meant to get you back to your home of record. So it's not really meant to retain you in state but you have enough resources where you can make do until the transition happens. The difference here with Master C is that we provide state specific resources so if someone were to come to our organization instead of being told that there's no opportunity in Hawaii we're telling them that the opportunity is here for them to grab. Right and the know-how really isn't there and some of the things that are really practical and necessary aren't being taught to these veterans. I talked to two different gentlemen yesterday. One's GI Bill H population young 20s wants to get out and go to UH but he's in a barracks he shops on post for his groceries and hasn't joined any civic organizations or volunteer organizations on the outside. Another gentleman 20 years his senior has a family again they live on post even though they own a house from a previous duty assignment here and the kids play sports on post and they haven't really integrated yet and we had a frank conversation that said if you really want to become a member of this community one you need to know how much a gallon of milk is at Foodland two you need to think about joining Rotary joining the Chamber of Commerce and really getting immersed in what the needs are here. Right you know what's very interesting to me is that you know these individuals are very talented they've been trained they've got a good work ethic they're trainable they can learn and yet we're not tapping into that here in Hawaii to take advantage of that even with our unemployment as low as it is. You know and the term has been used pretty collectively amongst the transition community is called the the brain drain you know the military is investing all these dollars into these you know highly trained individuals you know whether it be officer enlisted and we're just letting them walk away you know from Hawaii that is. And just to supplement that Craig you know we're in the gym whether it's on the Marine Corps base or on Schofield you can't look up at the TV but every five minutes and there's a I'm not even going to say the website but you know a state of what states like Florida and Texas are trying to recruit veterans because they understand that the value and all the corollaries. So they're aggressively going after them. That's right. Yeah and you know for us here in Hawaii with our unemployment so low and needing it's so hard to find good people and a lot of companies need those individuals. We seem to have a very large inventory of those available to us. We just need to learn how to reach up and get them. The populations don't talk. It's one of the things that we decided to do something about but it's almost a phenomena. There's the military spouses and then there are the service members that think there's some sort of chasm in between them and downtown in Honolulu. But then the same thing as the HR managers are talking about the ones we've spoken with. We're at 70% capacity. There's 3% unemployment. We need skills and we're here to really try to connect those bodies. So now with that being said what are you doing to help connect the employers with the potential employees? So over the past six months we've been running a pretty aggressive gorilla campaign. Going out speaking with different influencers in the community, employers, private industry and and in the government as well. And we've been connecting them with the resources that are available. Not only in the veteran population but also within other organizations that might provide similar resources. So we've had a three pronged approach, Reg. We had a lot of pie-in-the-sky ideas and still legitimate needs last time we spoke but we've had to pivot and focus down on some things. The first is our crisis coordination and like our red alert services. We can go into that if you'd like. The second is really capitalizing on the programs. The military is already trying to do for transitioning veterans and make it happen here in Hawaii. DoD skill bridge is one of those big ones that we're really helping with businesses. And the third is just straight-up veteran employment and spouse employment whether it's a teacher in the DOE that they need a substitute or whether it's a secretary or nurse in the health care industry. Well, let's talk for a second about the bridge that you mentioned. I was fascinated. It seems like it's a really great opportunity for some companies to actually try it out and see how the veteran works and if they like them they can keep them. If not then they can move on. Explain a little bit more about that. Yeah, absolutely. So we've got two companies right now that are in the process of this and have already started to take on two service members. The program is the military depending on your service. There are different levels of development, but we'll pay up to six months of your last paycheck really as you exit your term of service while you go in and work in industry. So Blue Startups and Man Mortgage, they've already taken in some folks that are still being paid by the military, but they are working full time as an intern unpaid. So for Hawaiian businesses, there's this huge opportunity that's not being tapped right now. You can have a highly skilled, highly trainable service member for up to six months before they enter the job market. And that's what we're really trying to use as that pathway. To me as a past employer, I would look at that as an opportunity to bring somebody on board and get six months of time to train them and orientate them to my business and the way I operate. And it won't cost me a penny. You know, and it's great for the veteran on the other side as well, you know, they get some experience in industry, which is something that I think is a hurdle for most veterans when they come out, you know, the employer general say that, you know, you only had experience in the military, you had no civilian experience. So one thing for them is that I give them an opportunity to get a six month, you know, familiarization with, you know, company that might be interested in or an industry they're interested in. Yeah, no, I've encountered that myself when I transitioned out many years ago. And that was a big obstacle. Is it okay? Great. Maybe you flourished and did well in the military, but you don't know how to transition into a civilian. Exactly. You know, and having that six months experience can pretty much address that. Absolutely. It gives the veteran confidence to and it gives some time for the family to really understand what it's like. Not shown up to work out formation in the morning, but to make sure that they have a whole different side of the expectations and responsibilities and really in a different culture. And so that gives them that adjustment period as well. Very good. If somebody wanted to find out more information on abridge program, how could they go about getting that? Yeah, absolutely. So we have a donation website that we'd love for anybody to come in and visit as well as outreach on our Facebook or LinkedIn. Yeah, Craig, I mean, that's he's our big outreach and guy there. So they would go to your website and then, you know, that bridge program where an employer can actually hire somebody and bring them on board. There would be more information on your website about that. Absolutely. When they want to, when it's an employer looking to take on an intern, they can go onto our website and they can just put in an application to say, Hey, I'm looking for, you know, potential veteran to, you know, augment our services or just come in and, you know, just get a feel for the market. You know, so they can do that through our website, she'll have posted at the end of the video. And what Chase was talking about with the donor site, you know, anything that anyone could provide to help us along with this program or make it more prolific than they can donate to our program as well. Well, if I was an employer and I was going to be getting six months of labor that I could help train somebody and get them ready to go full time with me, I wouldn't mind kicking in a few hundred dollars to cover some of the cost of that. Well, we'll hold you to that. And yeah, every service has different benefits and bonuses. The Air Force, I know, will contribute up to $5,000 for a service member to get certification in that last six months, even year period before transition. So if there are more technical jobs, I know there are in Hawaii, well, then the veterans have a fund for that. So it's it's able to be grabbed. Yeah. No, that's great. And I think it would be who I guess all employers, if they're having a hard time finding qualified individuals to work for them, they should at least explore this option and see if there's something there that might work. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, if at the end of their term with the CSP program, when they're looking to transition out of the community into the community, it's an opportunity for them to potentially find employment right out the gate. So it's a good transitional program. That's very good. And we're going to have to take a short break. We're going to be back in about 60 seconds. And we're going to continue the conversation here about the military retention and what some of the value is by having a higher retainage rate in Hawaii for our veterans as they transition into civilian life. But this is business in Hawaii, and we'll be back in about 60 seconds. Of Hawaii is my mainland every Friday at 3pm on Think Tech Hawaii. We talk about things of interest to those of us who live here. And my past blogs can be found at kawelukas.com. Okay, I didn't listen. Aloha and welcome back to Business in Hawaii with Reg Baker. We're here today talking about the military transition and what we can do to increase retainage and take a value of some of the very valuable resources that are available through the military and the veterans that are coming out. We've got a very low unemployment rate here in Hawaii. I hear all the time from businesses having a difficult time trying to hire good quality trainable individuals. But we've got a huge untapped inventory of exactly those types of people available to us as they transition out of active duty into civilian life here in Hawaii. And so we're going to learn a little bit more about that. We talked a little bit about the red flag program that is there to help people in need. Can someone explain a little bit more about that? Yeah, it's actually we call it React. It's an acronym for Red Alert Crisis Team. And the purpose behind the program is to prevent people from falling into those precarious patterns where they either find themselves in underemployment, unemployment, financial crisis, housing crisis, the typical issues that face veterans upon transition. So what our program is centered around is mitigating those risks or finding ways to completely alleviate those risks for those veterans. Yeah, sorry to cut in there. But because there are so many different veteran organizations already on the island, there are a lot of people that get in these precarious situations. They get a eviction notice, right? And the organization they know of doesn't quite help them in that scenario can only help them part of the way. So in the last couple of weeks, we've received a handfuls of folks that have been recommended by other service organizations. And we go into that red alert mode where we're calling a host of our partners. And we're saying, Hey, can you help with utilities? Hey, can you help with the transportation or daycare? Yeah, our program isn't centered around creating any more red tape than there already is. What we want to do is serve as the hub where we recommend out to these other resources that already exist. That way, you know, they're not falling into a category where they don't understand what we're doing, but we're getting them to the right resources. Well, in a sense, and what I'm hearing is that, you know, I always heard these horror stories about how the vets are homeless and all this kind of stuff. But this type of program actually helps address some of that and keeps them, you know, from being on the street keeps them in a place and some shelter and security that allows them to continue to work and take care of their families. Yes, absolutely. And, you know, part of it isn't just to get them into, you know, into housing where they're going to remain. It's about, you know, the following with it as well. You know, what do we do after we get them set up, you know, from their immediate issue? We want to make sure that they're self-sustaining for the long run. I want to highlight one program is actually vocational rehab. It's something that the VA offers that is massively underutilized. You know, it provides a basic BAH and it also gets them trained into some sort of industry to rebrand themselves to get themselves back out there and working again. It's, you know, it's what what kind of training is this? Is it technical training? So actually the candidate for the program has to be at least 10% disabled. There's some other qualifying conditions, but predicated on that they meet all those conditions, then they can be trained in pretty much any career path they want, even educational as well. The real bottom line to this is, Reg, for all the people that have reached out to us saying, Hey, I need help. They haven't heard of the different federal organizations and pools of money that are already set up for them. So we've been finding a lot of sex success just really grasping arms with people that are already in service. Very good. And I guess you're right. There probably are many organizations out there that are all kind of trying to help everybody in their own way, all of which is maybe focused more or less to a specific branch of the military. But there's not anyone that kind of brings it all together and kind of helps people find which one's the best for them. I guess that's where the name master comes from. That's where we come in. Yeah, our master console is based on the fact that we bring in organizations as a hub of resources. We don't have to recreate the wheel for everything. But we can help people along and find the right path that they need. Right. And so it's maybe one day pre crisis coordination for a family. Then it's getting the GI bill into one of the universities downtown. And then maybe three years later, it's looking for some internship or employment opportunity. So it's not a one time thing. I mean, somebody comes to you for help. You just don't help them and say bye. You actually can help them for a whole period of time. Yeah, our console is thick with them and we do a lot of follow through as well. We want to make sure that, you know, whatever route that we recommended was actually effective as opposed to, you know, they went to it, they fell off and then they disappear. And we're not recommending somebody, hey, go talk to this veteran organization. It's go talk to this person who deals with this issue at this and then get back to us to tell us how it went. Actually, you know, I've been working with you guys and known you guys, I guess, for about six or nine months now, maybe a little longer. But you've developed over that short period of time a very extensive network. I mean, you know, a lot of different organizations, agencies, individuals out there that you are a great resource just between the two of you. Yeah, part of how we initially got started was literally just through gorilla campaigning. We went out there, we hosted meetings, you know, we reached up to plenty of different organizations and every mover and shaker in the community, such as yourself. Or yeah, I read just from you and I won't be able to list all of our just deep mentors, but whether it's the Military Affairs Committee, whether it's the Chamber of Commerce, whether it's been Mr. Livingston through the Rotary and all his organizations, Dennis Kwok with the Veteran Business Outreach Center. There's a community here that really wants success and wants a great environment for its veterans. It just seems like there might be one piece missing and that's somebody to crown them all together. Right, and you know, I think there's a lot of on the civilian side of people that are former military or veterans that have formed this group of support. What we need to be able to do is try to get into the different commands and make these individuals, I guess, you know, connect the dots, you know, just to make sure that everybody in all the different commands around the state understand that there's these resources out there and have them engage and help with that transition. And that's our next phase, really. It's once we've got some consolidated support from the community where we can go to the military chain of commands and say, this is worth it. You have a body of consolidated support, whether it be from the state house, private organizations, to nonprofits, then that's when I think we're really ready for it. So it's going to be exciting. I'm going to ask kind of a peripheral question here that's related to employment. But, you know, Hawaii has always been looking for a way to quote unquote diversify their economy. And we've looked at different opportunities in that area. And one of them is technology and innovation, that sort of thing. And a lot of it's based out at the University of Hawaii and the Manoa Technology Center. What percentage do you think of the military have computer skills these days? Oh, that's a it's a difficult thing to say. But, you know, I mean, I would imagine that, you know, just in the signal core alone, comprises at least, you know, maybe about five to 10% of the transition in community, you know, experts. Yeah. And I'm talking about, you know, people that are considered experts, you know, they've had certifications, you know, above for those that have a tech background out there, above security plus. You know, we do see it. And there is actually there is a rising demand in information technology and management. And, you know, there is also a rising amount of people that have those skills that each year. Yeah. And there's a lot of folks that are in the military that have to be able to multitask and be generalists and teach yourself everything about, you know, not just Microsoft Suite, but project management tools to run an operation. And so registered to, you know, 30, 40% of folks who are very, very capable at, you know, everything. Right. I was just going to say that it's, you know, in today's world of technology, I mean, everybody's got some level of understanding of technology and utilizes it pretty much on a daily basis. You know, there's hundreds, if not thousands of computers. And I, you know, I'm a former Navy guy and I go on a ship. The whole ship is computerized. Everything is connected. Absolutely. Well, you know, we do have a rising generation of the digital natives, you know, those that are born and bred into the electronic devices that, you know, they've probably been playing with since they were three years old in some regard or another. So, you know, we do absolutely see a baseline out there for, you know, a tech capability. Well, and that's kind of where I was headed with this, is that, you know, if there's any company at all in Hawaii that's looking for somebody that's got some technical skills in the technical computer area, they should certainly, as one of their options, take a look at what the military has to offer, because there's some good skill set there. Absolutely, Reggie. Most major corporations on Hawaii need folks that are experts or semi-experts in information technology. I know Blue Startups does great work as a startup incubator, and I've been to a few of their outreach nights, and very frequently they're looking for programmers or people with computer skills for all these startups. And so another one is, and it's a startup here in Hawaii, is Patriotic Online Marketplace. And it sort of blends what we were talking about because it's an e-commerce space for veterans and military families to sell to America. And so that's really headquartered here in Hawaii, and we've got a remote team, and yeah, that's growing here at Pompeo USA.org. So that's a good example of the type of company that the individuals, the veterans, can set up and operate in Hawaii. Is this online service available to military personnel around the country? Right. And that's exactly the type of industry that Hawaii is looking for. You know, in kind of connecting the dots, you know, we talked a little bit about growing the economy here. We do see a enormous, you know, push to make Hawaii more service or technology driven. So, you know, these companies like Blue Startups are helping incubate and create potentially new spinoff industries through veterans that, you know, want to become an entrepreneur. And my state senator, Senator De La Cruz, out in Oahu, he's really pushing agricultural and technology integration. So whether it's, you know, an e-commerce marketplace or whether it's ag tech, it's definitely happening here and it's growing. And folks like Shinoah Blue Startups have really helped push that as well. Well, and that's good. Let me just ask you another question here that's kind of peripheral. But I mean, you guys have had some good success at creating this thing, getting up and running. You're both vets. You're both transitioning out and one's a little bit ahead of the other. And but what are some of the challenges that you guys have personally encountered? I mean, what is, I mean, just as advice to the people, the military that are going through it right now? You know, the big things that we see, you know, everyone has a hold up with is actually the cost of living, you know, geographical distance, you know, to family, then the cultural impact of making the transitioning out and going into the Hawaiian community. I would tell those that are planning on doing it or, you know, have an inkling that they might want to stay here in Hawaii is just fear not. It's actually completely sustainable. There are jobs here that are available for them. And you know, the Hawaiian culture, I mean, it's paradise here. I mean, it's a beautiful place to live and there's plenty of opportunity. You know, to side up along with that reg, there is a different culture and I'm still learning things, right? And I imagine I will continue to learn things for the next couple of decades. But it's really getting out and immersing yourself, right? Thankfully, my wife, Samantha, they started working at Meta Gold Dairy and they, you know, wrapped their arms around her and helped her and said, hey, listen, like this is, this is how we do things here and not in New York City. I'm frankly glad for some of the ways we do business here. It's like, it's friendship first. It's a lo-ha first. It's refreshing. It's refreshing. But that's not the same as where everyone else is from. And so whether it's, you know, joining these civic organizations, that's where we feel there's a lot of success to happen. And then joining sports teams. I decided I was going to stay in Hawaii after coaching middle school football. I just said this is where I want to be. Super. Very good. Well, I for one welcome you and glad that you guys decided to stick around. And I think it's a great project to have to try to figure out how we can tap into this very valuable resource that sometimes we forget is sitting there. But we got to wrap up the show. I want to thank you both very much for being on the show again. And maybe in a few months we'll have you come back and give us another update. And you can tell us about all the different people that you've been able to help over the three or four weeks. Thank you very much. This is business in Hawaii with Reg Baker. We broadcast live every Thursday from two to two 30. And we discuss success stories in Hawaii of businesses, individuals and organizations that help individuals and businesses to success. Until next Thursday. Aloha.