JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — He's a Marine who hopes to help fellow veterans find jobs. In this week's Stories of Service, we catch up with a local Jacksonville small business owner who makes it his mission to give veterans a path from the uniform they used to wear to a job in the civilian world.
"I wanted something bigger, more challenging, something that would help me grow faster as a person," said Joe Padlo, while thinking back to his life before the military.
That's exactly what Padlo got when he joined the Marines in 1997. His life in the Marines was a 12-year journey that brought him to the frontlines of history.
"The highlight of my career was Iraq," said Padlo, "I was one of the first Marines, the first Americans to cross Breach Point West into Iraq on March 19th, 2003."
Padlo served until 2009 and began to look for a new career, but for that he relied upon his military career.
"In the military the first thing you learn how to do is you clean your rifle, clean your boots and clean the head, the bathroom, keep your space clean," said Padlo, "everybody can clean, so let's start a commercial cleaning company."
And thus Veterans Elite Services was born. It's a company that offers cleaning, painting and maintenance work to veterans who are beginning their journey away from life in a uniform.
"We work in small teams," said Padlo, "there's two to four-man teams that go out into work replicating a fire team in the Marines and they get that feeling of comfort."
Padlo employs 26 people at Veterans Elite Services, 18 of whom are veterans working in either part-time or full-time roles, whichever suits the veteran's lifestyle best.
"That's the point of this company, it really is, the point of this company is a focus on the people and their journey," said Padlo.
A journey from a uniform to a paycheck in the civilian world, at their own pace.
If you're a veteran looking for work, the Veterans Elite Services website can be found here.
You can reach Veterans Elite Services by phone at (904) 468-3874
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