Finding a Job for Disabled Vets AND Giving them Equity in the Company Too

OAK BROOK, Ill. - April 30, 2013 - PRLog -- Finding a Job for Disabled Vets AND Giving them Equity in the Company Too – One Virginia Company Sets up an ESOP to Change the Lives of our Country’s Veterans

Able Forces Professional Services is a young organization in Front Royal, VA established for the sole purpose of helping to find civilian jobs for veterans, including many service-disabled veterans.  In conjunction with the not for profit organization, Source America, which provided a significant amount of the start-up funding,  veterans, including many service-disabled veterans employed by Able Forces will get more than just a paycheck, they will get equity in the company too.

Many veterans, and specifically those that have been disabled during their service, return to the civilian world with significant skills and abilities, but often have difficulties in finding the right position that can both accommodate their specific needs while engaging their valuable experience and skill set.  Able Forces seeks to partner these heroes with government contracts to find civilian jobs for these talented individuals.  So not only does Able Forces help disabled veterans find employment, but with their newly established Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), each employee will have the opportunity to earn equity in the company too.

In January of this year, long-time defense industry veterans, Skip Rogers and Joe Cunningham set up an ESOP in Able Forces to help extend the benefits of equity participation in a company.  Through the help of ESOP-industry veterans – ESOP Services, Inc., Prairie Capital Advisors, Inc. and North Star Trust Company, Able Forces is now  extending the benefits of company ownership to its new employee-owners.  “Able Forces’ ESOP is the best of all worlds.  Not only do they want to find jobs for our heroes, but they want them to have the power of ownership in their own company for the work they do as well,” says Michael McGinley, Vice President of Prairie Capital Advisors.  “That is a powerful statement, and I think a game changer in how we help our disabled veterans as they re-enter the civilian world.  It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”

A national nonprofit agency, Source America supports other companies and agencies that provide employment opportunities for people with blindness or other significant disabilities.  Source America’s ESOP pilot program pays a significant portion of the ESOP implementation costs for qualified companies that desire to implement an ESOP plan.  In order to qualify, companies must meet certain criteria, including hiring a targeted number of employees with significant disabilities and establishing the ESOP at a 30% or greater level..

“This program encourages companies to hire people with significant disabilities and give those employees the ownership advantages that come with an ESOP,” says Ron Gilbert, President of ESOP Services, Inc..  “We hope the Able Forces plan is the first of many ESOPs sponsored by companies that are strongly committed to employing people with significant disabilities.”

About Prairie Capital Advisors

Prairie is an employee owned company that offers investment banking, ESOP advisory and valuation services to support the growth and ownership transition strategies of middle-market companies. Headquartered in Oakbrook Terrace, with offices in Atlanta, Cedar Rapids and Chicago, the company is a leading advisor to closely-held companies nationwide. For more information call 630.413.5565 or visit www.prairiecap.com.

Media Contact
Sarah Vogel
Prairie Capital Advisors, Inc.
630.413.5574
svogel@prairiecap.com