Kevin and Steve made a conscious decision to hire veterans for the workforce needed to meet the contract. They also decided to use SCORE to help navigate the treacherous waters of being a new small business with a very large order.
Attending meetings at Milwaukee SCORE, Kevin and Steve met with counselor Joan Burke. They were given checklists to understand what it takes to start and operate a small business. SCORE mentors, who understood the federal contracting process, were also called upon to assist the Patriot Taxiway team. "There was an awful lot we didn't know" Kevin says. SCORE gave them the framework to ask the right questions that would help them succeed regarding banks, liability insurance and marketing to the federal government.
Jonathan Bekemeyer’s transition from pounding rounds of ammunition in the city of Fallujah to putting on skate clinics for Beaufort skaters straddles two worlds that couldn’t be more different. The success of his skate shop is even more intriguing when considering that the 31-year-old South Carolinian began the venture without any business training or knowledge.
After one year at Florida State University, Jonathan wanted to try something new, so he joined the Marines. Four years later, transferred to Beaufort, S.C., he met his wife while serving as a marksmanship instructor. His deployment to Iraq left a three-month pregnant wife at home. “It was a difficult time. I had to lead my section during pretty volatile situations, and was nervous about my first child being born," he says. "I had to remember, I am missing out on a big thing back home, but I need to keep my mind here right now. I learned early on to make sure that we got each other home alive first. You can worry about other stuff later.”