When her Bellevue-based information technology company, CSSS.NET, advertises for workers, the ads note that veterans are preferred.
And it’s not just talk. Of the firm’s 170 employees, about 75 percent are military veterans. Several of those, including some company executives, are active reservists.
Outside the office, Wolford has spoken to groups about helping troops returning from deployments adjust to the civilian working world, and she serves on the board of an organization that provides low-cost treatment to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Today, Wolford’s efforts will be recognized when representatives of the U.S. Small Business Administration present her with the Nebraska Veteran Services Champion of the Year award.
Barbara Foster, the Nebraska district office’s lead business development specialist, said Wolford’s award is the first veteran-specific award that’s been given in at least five years.
To be selected for the award, a business owner must meet certain criteria, including being an active supporter of legislation or regulation aimed at helping small businesses, boosting opportunities for veterans in business and advocating for special consideration for veteran-owned small businesses in government.
Foster said it’s not a category that tends to get nominations, but Wolford wasn’t selected just because her name was thrown in the hat. Instead, she said, the Bellevue businesswoman is doing her part to make a difference.
“As a veteran herself, she puts a lot of effort into providing employment for (veterans) and in giving back to the community,” Foster said.
To Wolford, it’s simple: Veterans have served their country and are entitled to respect. And as the president and CEO of a growing company with high-profile government contracts, she needs good workers, and she says she’s found people with military backgrounds tend to fit the bill.
“I just cannot say enough about the caliber of the employee you get when you hire a veteran,” she said.
Wolford’s company began as a one-woman operation in 1997. In the early days, she did software engineering work for a number of local companies, including ConAgra, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska and Union Pacific.
By the early 2000s, she had started adding employees and had shifted to exclusively government contracts.
Working on projects for government agencies like the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration, Wolford’s employees had to be able to pass rigorous background checks and, in some cases, get government security clearance.
So she said it made sense to hire people with military experience. Many already had clearance. They knew how to meet deadlines, follow specific guidelines and complete tasks.
They had ethics and integrity. “That’s really important to me.”
Over time, Wolford’s company gained a reputation and secured more contracts, including with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies. CSSS.NET maintains all of the VA’s websites.
The company now has employees in 20 states, including 59 in Nebraska.
Joel Merriman, CSSS.NET’s vice president of strategic alliances, said he nominated Wolford for the award because she’s someone who does what she believes is right, even if it means taking a risk. Having reservists — including Merriman — in high-ranking positions, for example, could prove to be a hardship if they were deployed.
Merriman said he knows of workers who have been fired because of their military-related absences. “That clearly would not be the case here with Lisa.” He also said he’s also been impressed by her work outside the office.
Wolford said she has several informal mentoring relationships with veterans interested in being entrepreneurs. She said it’s important to share what she’s learned with them and also with other employers.
“I tell civilian employers, ‘Bring these people in for an interview. Measure their character.’ ”
Contact the writer:
402-444-1543, erin.golden@owh.com
Take care -