Operation New Uniform (ONU) celebrated the grand opening of its newly renovated and expanded headquarters Dec. 5 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the 7,000 square feet facility on Southpoint Boulevard.
Hundreds of ONU staff, board members, program alumni and supporters attended the ceremony, which included an open house and the opportunity to tour the new headquarters. The expanded space not only provides offices for staff but also meeting rooms and significantly expanded training facilities for ONU’s programs that help veterans transition from military service to the civilian workforce.
“We were in a very small place before — you could fit it in our (new) training room,” said CEO Michele McManamon, noting that the organization previously operated out of 2,280 square feet.
The additional space has enabled Operation New Uniform to increase its training class size from 15 to 20 participants, a number that allows the organization to serve more veterans while maintaining its personalized approach.
“We don’t want to go any bigger than that,” McManamon said. “We feel like we would lose that family feel that we’re able to provide to our veterans and military spouses in the community.”
Mission Ready
ONU’s free veterans’ training programs use Sandler Training curriculum to teach veterans sales techniques to present themselves in the civilian job market.
“We’re teaching them a sales training technique on how to sell themselves instead of a product or service, how to go into an interview feeling confident about who they are and translate what they’ve done in the military into what we know in the business community,” McManamon said.
That training helped 25-year U.S. Army veteran Raymond Theiss make the transition from active duty to the business world.
“I went straight into the military after high school; I had never done any job outside the Army,” Theiss said. “I was very confident in uniform but not out of uniform.”
Through Operation New Uniform, Theiss said, he gained the confidence to present himself in interviews, knowing that “I was interviewing them as much as they were interviewing me.”
At his ONU graduation ceremony, Theiss connected with someone from First Citizens Bank. Within weeks, he had interviewed and secured a job with the organization, where he now serves as an assistant vice president and works with several other ONU graduates. He also now serves on the ONU board of directors.
“It’s a very positive program,” Theiss said.
ONU board member LaSandra Boykin echoed that sentiment. The director of community investments for CSX, Boykin noted that a significant portion of rail industry employees have a military background, making the company’s support for ONU a good fit with its own Pride in Service initiative that provides support for active duty military, veterans and first responders.
“We believe in supporting not only the veteran but their whole family,” Boykin said. “CSX not only recruits from ONU’s training programs but also speaks at their graduation ceremonies.”
Expansion Plans
Beyond its Jacksonville headquarters, Operation New Uniform conducts training classes in Tampa while offering online classes to servicemembers, veterans and military spouses nationwide. Plans are also in the works to expand to other cities in the next two years.
It’s a mission that is deeply personal for McManamon and her husband, Pat, who started the nonprofit ONU out of their Sandler Training business to help veterans transition successfully to civilian careers.
“We didn’t serve (in the military,)” she said. “As business owners for all these years, this is our way to give back to this community.”
