Ozaukee Economic Development works to advance the business prosperity of Ozaukee County by collaborating with community, regional, and business partners, ensuring a growing and diversified Ozaukee County economy. There are a lot of parties involved in the work the OED does, but none are more essential than our Board & Staff. With that in mind, we want to take the opportunity to highlight our team with a board member spotlight interview series. And with our first highlight falling on Veterans Day, we thought it would be perfect to showcase Justin Schneider, our OED Treasurer.
Justin is a Principal at CliftonLarsonAllen, and not only does he work hard to serve the people of Ozaukee County with his knowledge and expertise in finance, but he also served our country in the U.S Air Force and with the Wisconsin Air National Guard
Q: Where and when did you serve?
- United States Air Force 1995 to 1999
- While temporarily deployed close to a dozen times in 4 years, my active duty station was Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany.
- WI Air National Guard, 128th Air Refueling Wing, Milwaukee 1999 to 2015
- Retired from the Air Force after 20 years
- Final rank: Technical Sargent (E-6)
- Enlisted ranks go through E-0 Airmen Basic to E-9 Chief Master Sargent
- Job/Certification (Army refers to it as your MOS or military occupational specialty)
- I served most of my military career as a Munitions Technician
- Active Duty – Air to Air Armaments (Missile Shop)
- Air National Guard – based defense (small arms)
- Air National Guard – last 3 years as Quality Assurance Inspector (covered all of the maintenance, and munitions including all aircraft sections: engines, avionics, hydraulics, tires, etc.)
- I served most of my military career as a Munitions Technician
Q: When it comes to your work at CLA, how does your experience in the military help when you are advising clients and working with other people at your company?
- The AF core values (very similar to the other services)
- Integrity First
- Doing the right thing when nobody is looking. It is really about building trust with the team and with clients.
- Service Before Self
- Dedication and willingness to sacrifice personal goals for the good of the organization/client…..making sure my team and clients know that I really have their best interests at heart
- The reason why I belong to various community organizations and have opportunities to volunteer. Port Washington-Saukville Rotary Club allows for plenty of volunteer opportunities.
- Excellence In All We Do
- Maintain a high level of quality…….the team and clients knowing I am doing the best I can for them.
- Integrity First
How do you feel the community of Veterans living in Ozaukee benefits from being residents here?
- Stars and Stripes Honor Flight – Wisconsin
- There are a number of these organizations around the area and in the US that are doing a great job in supporting and honoring those that have served that may not have always been provided the proper acknowledgment.
- Other local
- VFW
- American Legion
- Other local
- There are a number of these organizations around the area and in the US that are doing a great job in supporting and honoring those that have served that may not have always been provided the proper acknowledgment.
- Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)
- The WOTC is a federal tax credit available to employers for hiring individuals from certain target groups who have consistently faced significant barriers to employment.
- There is a certification process.
- It can equate to several thousand per qualifying individual
- Numbers of Target Groups, but includes:
- Unemployed Veterans, including disabled veterans
- The WOTC is a federal tax credit available to employers for hiring individuals from certain target groups who have consistently faced significant barriers to employment.
What advice can you offer to the younger generation who feel the call to serve and want to utilize the educational resources the military provides?
- It is a great way to find your way in the world. I personally didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. Spending 4 years in the active duty Air Force gave me perspective on what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. While some may choose to serve at a young age, I was much more mature and ready to dedicate the appropriate amount of time and energy at University and graduated with almost a 3.8 GPA.
- Serving can assist with learning an important trade. There are as many different job descriptions in the private sector as there are in the military.
For more information about the services that CliftonLarsonAllen offer, click HERE
Stay tuned for more spotlights on our Board and Staff soon.