DAV & Auxiliary National Convention Award Highlights Top Venture Impacting Veterans Jared Wharton , founder and president of Forward Operating Base Brewing Co. , accepts a $10,000 check as part of the Arthur H. and Mary E. Wilson Award for Top Venture Impacting Veterans. Wharton, an Army veteran, did exceptionally well in the business plan competition in the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp of Veterans with Disabilities, which offers cutting-edge experience and training in startup and small business management to veterans with disabilities. He envisions a brewery and taproom outside every American military installation. The check was presented by then-National Commander Delphine Metcalf-Foster and National Employment Director Jeff Hall. Large Employer of the Year David Grams (center left), senior vice president of operations at DaVita Healthcare Co. , accepts the DAV Outstanding Large Employer of the Year award. The Denver-based company hired 654 veterans in all areas of their business in 2017 and also held the first-of-its-kind National Veteran Interview Day, at which over 250 interviews were conducted across the nation. Since 2009, DaVita has won 40 awards for veteran and spouse recruiting. Midsize Employer of the Year Robert Boman, vice president of human resources at Airbus Helicopters North America , accepted the DAV Outstanding Midsize Employer of the Year award on behalf of the company. The company, based in Grand Prairie, Texas, makes it part of its business strategy to hire veterans. Currently, 20 percent of their 714 employees are veterans—54 of whom are disabled. Small Employer of the Year Janice Adams (center left), founder, president and CEO of JMA Solutions , accepts the DAV Outstanding Small Employer of the Year award. Veterans comprise 19 percent of the business management consulting firm’s workforce, including Adams, who is an Air Force veteran and life member of DAV Chapter 17 in Washington, D.C. The company created a veteran outreach program that has established partnerships throughout the Washington, D.C., metro area and was named one of the area’s top workplaces. 14 DAV MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2018