My father served in the United States Air Force for 27 years. He retired the summer I graduated from Hampton’s Kecoughtan High School after which my parents returned to their roots on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and I went off to Ole Miss where none of my new friends had military backgrounds. This was strange to me along with the realization that they had lived in the same place their whole lives. They thought it was odd when I referenced anything about growing up in Hawaii and Norway. And they really didn’t get it when I decided to teach English in China after college. I kept forgetting everyone didn’t move to another country after living in one place for four years—to me it was the obvious next step.
My entire adult life I’ve been routinely quizzed about my background, asked why I have an accent or why I don’t have an accent, and of course, I get the question that often comes across as an accusation: “you’re not from here, are you?” I guess that’s to be expected in China, but I was surprised to get it routinely in both Mississippi and New York.
It hasn’t been asked of me once since returning to Hampton Roads and something tells me it’s not just because of my KHS street cred. Instead, I think it has to do with the amazing diversity that exists in our region, influenced by a large military community. Lots of people “aren’t from here” and that’s just fine.
As one local has suggested, there is something in the water. That special something has fostered generations of talented and successful locals who have welcomed new talent and new experiences in the form of military families. My favorite local plays license plate bingo with his son. They keep a score card in the car and routinely check off all 50 states as they drive around town and then start the game over again. That alone illustrates the level of diversity that exists here; people from every single state in our vast country reside in Hampton Roads.
We’re lucky to have military families while they are here, bringing their ideas and exposure to best practices from all around the world back to our local schools and workforce. We’re even luckier when they choose to call Hampton Roads home by remaining here upon military separation and retirement, continuing to pour their leadership, talents, and unique perspectives into our community.
One amazing avenue to anchor military families to our region is through small business ownership. Many of the qualities which make for successful business ownership like adaptability, comfort with being uncomfortable, commitment and perseverance, seeing a task to completion, and long hours of responsibility are the exact qualities which military families have honed over years and often decades of adapting to new circumstances and assignments.
Veterans are almost twice as likely as civilians to be small business owners and they employ fellow Veterans. The Hampton Roads Small Business Development Center sees about 850 small businesses each year, 27% of which are veteran and military spouse owned. As a result, we’ve recently formed the Veterans Business Network in partnership with the Hampton Roads Chamber and the Hampton Roads Military Advisory Committee.
The Network meets monthly and provides new and existing military-related entrepreneurs with an opportunity to connect around the challenges and rewards of small business ownership. Hampton Roads is a community committed to a thriving military. This is only one of many efforts across our region to show veterans and military families how appreciative we are of their service and how much we value their presence here, including as vital members of the small business ecosystem.
To learn more about this and other small business programs visit: virginiasbdc.org, or call our office at 757-664-2595.
