November 10th, 2015
By Alison Bailey
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A security service formed nearly ninety years ago to provide jobs for veterans wants those coming out of the armed forces to know it’s here to help.
Dan Popowich is CEO of the BC Branch of Commissionaires.
“What we’re finding is we’re always looking for more and more veterans. In British Columbia, we have a real challenge because a lot of veterans choose not to retire here in the Lower Mainland especially, because of the cost of living, etcetera.”
He says the not-for-profit, private company is getting veterans back from Afghanistan in their twenties and thirties, who have wonderful work ethics, but don’t have a lot of confidence in their abilities in the private workplace.
Popowich believes gaining that confidence is where Commissionaires can come in.
One of the challenges the company has is convincing vets they have skills that are transferrable to security work. “A lot of them who have taken courses in the military on leadership and a whole bunch of other things, they feel it’s not security related, but it’s hugely security related within our industry because we’re looking for trusted individuals that are competent, that they’re always punctual, that know to dress well in uniform, know how to work with the public,” he explains.
Popowich says those are all skills that military veterans and military trained personnel bring to the Commissionaires.