VOB Network | Community News

Kevin Jackson

Sunday Jun 14, 2026

Category: Events

VOB Members at the National Social Media Awards

This past Sunday, some members of the VOB Network community attended the National Social Media Awards in Los Angeles, where veteran voices, creators, and mission-driven leaders were recognized for their impact.

VOB members Wayne Murray, Founder & CEO of A-1 VA Ratings West, Bill Haase of Money Mindset Media, Tom Long , and Robert ?Scotty? Scott, CEO/President of Honor Box Studios, were part of the event.
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A special highlight of the evening: Scotty presented one of his custom Honor Boxes as the award for Veteran Influencer of the Year ? a powerful tribute from one veteran-led mission to another.

We?re proud to see VOB members showing up, supporting one another, and representing the veteran business community on a national stage.

More photos from the event can be seen in the scrolling photo section on the VOB Network home page ? look for the image scroll in the middle of the page.

Tough on the outside. Solid at the core. Grown to lead.

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Summertime Greetings, Military Community Advocates/Veterans and Military Spouses,

Aloha VOB Community —

This one comes to us from Heather Kline, Military Engagement and Growth Leader at Client Solution Architects (CSA), and I'm posting it on her behalf. Heather puts out CSA's weekly HOT JOBS list and asked us to get it in front of our transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses. Apply directly through the links below and one of CSA's talent acquisition team members will take it from there. CSA also offers a referral bonus.

CSA HOT JOBS — 23 July 2026

Network Administrator/Cyber Liaison — Langley AFB
https://www.csaassociates.com/position/network-administrator-cyber-liaison-4308004

Information Program Manager — Langley AFB
https://www.csaassociates.com/position/information-program-manager-4308934

IT Helpdesk Project Manager — Washington, DC
https://www.csaassociates.com/position/it-helpdesk-project-manager-4312309

Jr. Veeam Backup Technician — Pensacola, FL
https://www.csaassociates.com/position/jr-veeam-backup-technician-4332547

NMCI/NGEN Special Projects Lead — Millington, TN
https://www.csaassociates.com/position/nmci-ngen-special-projects-lead-4294004

Mid-Level Logistician — San Diego, CA
https://www.csaassociates.com/position/mid-level-logistician-4349964

Analyst I — Arlington, VA
https://www.csaassociates.com/position/analyst-i-4327941

Developer I — Arlington, VA
https://www.csaassociates.com/position/developer-i-4326931

More from CSA

CSA was recognized in America's Most Patriotic Companies 2026:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/csa-client-solution-architects_americas-most-patriotic-companies-2026-activity-7477707801029685248-kL-z

All CSA careers: https://www.csaassociates.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/csa-client-solution-architects/mycompany/
X (on-the-spot hot jobs): https://twitter.com/CSAcareers

Contact: Heather Kline, Military Engagement and Growth Leader, Client Solution Architects — Heather.m.kline@csaassociates.com, (717) 858-5781

Aloha,

Kevin 🍍🇺🇸

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VOB Roundtable Recap — July 21, 2026

We had a full house this week, with a great mix of familiar faces and first-timers, and conversation ranged from social media algorithms to NASCAR pit crews to a homeless veteran's mail delivery — which pretty much sums up what makes this group great.

Bill Clement (energy broker, Wise Energy Solutions; bill@wisenergysolutions.com), who walked us through how he helps commercial businesses cut their gas and electric bills — "we discover, then we recover, and put money back in their pocket." Andres Inciarte (Founder, Design Desk — designdesk.tech), joining us from the Atlanta area, introduced himself next. He runs an agency helping nonprofits build monthly giving programs through email funnels, websites, and ad campaigns, and he brought some good energy about the heat — turns out being from Venezuela gives you a different perspective on what counts as "hot."

David Eastman (finance mentor, Startup 425 / Seattle University), a first-timer, shared his path from CPA to nearly two decades at Microsoft in corporate and consumer product finance, and now spends his retirement mentoring entrepreneurs through Seattle's Startup 425 program and Seattle University's business mentorship track — he's not a veteran himself, but has family and friends who are and wanted to see where he could help.

Keith McNally (Dr. Keith McNally, Marine Corps veteran, founder of Trail to Transformation Foundation; drkeithmcnally@gmail.com, it3mission.org) also joined us for the first time. He's a five-time suicide-attempt survivor who's channeled that experience into a nonprofit focused on veteran suicide prevention.

Dr. Gina Di Nola (Veterans OneSource, Military Spouse University; military spouse, El Paso TX) welcomed everyone back and gave an update on Veterans OneSource — her free event calendar is worth checking out, and VOB is already listed on it. She also spent some time helping JR Bilbes (transportation logistics, San Diego, Navy veteran) troubleshoot how his homeless veteran employees can set up general delivery mail through the post office — a simple, free fix most people don't know about. JR also shared details from Stand Down, the annual event Veterans Village of San Diego runs for homeless vets, connecting them with the VA, nonprofits, and local providers all in one place.

Lisa Bowers (Office Allies, admin support for entrepreneurs — Lisa@officealliesllc.com) talked about how her team takes administrative chaos off business owners' plates, and specifically prioritizes hiring military spouses whose resumes often look scattered because of frequent moves.

Shaun Penrod (fractional CMO, Boundless Connections Marketing, Navy veteran) introduced himself as someone who helps founder-led companies build marketing strategy — especially companies gearing up to exit. JR Bilbes then gave more detail on his transportation logistics business, where he intentionally employs homeless veterans and non-veterans alike.

Dorothy Smith (DMS Bookkeeping, Memphis TN, Air Force veteran, Enrolled Agent) is helping with a couple of my own client engagements right now and is also doing books for Deb's Honor Box project. Alicia Nordman (social media management and short-form video editing, St. Augustine FL) shared some sharp, current advice on the platforms — working with the algorithm instead of against it, why Meta suppresses new business accounts, and why YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Nextdoor tend to outperform for free reach right now.

Bill Haase (Money Mindset Media) gave an update on the USS Missouri event planning — still waiting to hear back from the venue — and shared a great line worth repeating: shoot for impact, and the income follows. Brian Cate (commercial finance, veteran-owned government contract financing) talked about his work financing veteran-owned businesses on government contracts, and also shared that he's been helping a new startup incubator, Launchpad Tech Ventures, restructure their deal rooms for investors — he's looking for mentors if anyone's interested.

We spent some time comparing notes on bookkeeping software — QuickBooks/Intuit continues to take a beating in both stock price and user sentiment, with several people in the group already moved or moving to alternatives like Digits.

Mark Spenelli (Army Veteran, commercial truck driver; also developing "Nature's Edge," a veteran-centered RV park and tiny-home concept) checked in, and we talked through logistics for potentially connecting with Ram in Iowa this coming weekend.

Deb Plennert (Precision With Honor Bookkeeping) closed us out with a big update on QRF Up — their suicide-prevention and crisis-intervention work with 988, a rebrand launching September 11th, a NASCAR ARCA series event in Salem, Virginia that same day, and their Warriors to Racers program, which walks veteran clients through a stress-management pipeline that can lead to ASE certification and even a shot at a NASCAR pit crew slot. She's also heading to Cedar Falls, Iowa this weekend for QRF Up's third annual Heroes Appreciation Weekend, and the group is continuing to build out cross-pollination between QRF Up and VOB on the training and wraparound-support side.

Everyone is encouraged to complete their free VOB member profile. I can see that several people have registered but have not yet finished setting up their profiles. If anyone runs into difficulty completing their profile, adding a business listing, posting Community News, or navigating the site, please reach out — I'm happy to help.

Thanks again to everyone who joined, shared, asked, offered, and connected. This is exactly what we want the VOB Roundtable to be: veterans and supporters helping each other find the people, tools, services, and opportunities that move missions forward.

Mahalo,

Kevin 🍍🇺🇸

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Honored to be part of the Veterans of Business community.

Honored to be part of the Veterans of Business community. 🇺🇸

I actually recorded a video introducing myself and sharing a little more about my story, but unfortunately it's too large to upload to the VOB newsfeed.

I'll be sharing it on LinkedIn if you'd like to watch the full version.

Here's the short version:

For those I haven't met yet, my name is Gilberto De León. I'm a retired Army officer and an independent health and life insurance broker. I help individuals, families, self-employed professionals, nonprofits, and small businesses build insurance strategies that fit their needs—not just sell a policy.

If you're a veteran-owned business, a veteran supporter, or know someone looking for an independent broker, I'd truly appreciate the introduction. Referrals are one of the best ways you can support a fellow veteran-owned business.

Every client I have the privilege of serving moves me one step closer to building my future holistic regenerative ranch for veterans—a place where veterans can reconnect with the land, learn regenerative agriculture, build community, and discover new opportunities after military service.

Helping people protect what they've worked hard to build is my mission today. And with your support, I'm working toward building something that I hope will serve veterans for generations to come.

Thank you for welcoming me into this incredible community. I look forward to learning from all of you every Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

If we're not connected yet, I'd love to get to know you.

#VeteransOfBusiness #VeteranOwned #VeteranEntrepreneur #Networking #HealthInsurance #LifeInsurance #SmallBusiness #MissionDriven #Leadership

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Partner with a VA Intern at No Cost Through the Lakas VA Internship Program

Lakas Solutions is now accepting applications for partner clients for our upcoming Lakas VA Internship Program.

Our interns complete two weeks of self-paced training in administrative support and social media management before beginning their supervised fieldwork on August 2. During this time, your business can receive support from a VA intern at no cost while they gain valuable hands-on experience.

If you're interested in participating as a partner client, please complete our Google Form:
Lakas Solutions Client Partnership Inquiry Form

We look forward to partnering with you and helping both your business and our interns succeed!

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VOB Roundtable Recap — July 14, 2026

Aloha everyone,

We had a full house today, plenty of good energy, and one especially great new addition to the VOB family. Between weather chat (yes, it really is a weird summer everywhere), some ranching talk, and a genuinely inspiring introduction, this was one of the better Roundtables in a while.

We welcomed: James Di Nola (linkedin.com/in/jamesdinola; 20-year Army veteran, two tours in Iraq ? wounded in action on his first ? plus a deployment to Afghanistan) joined us for the first time alongside his wife Dr. Gina Di Nola (drginadinola@gmail.com; CEO of Di Nola Consulting, PMI Authorized Training Partner, and a leader on Military Spouse University and PMology). James is Founder, President & CEO of Veterans OneSource ? a project that started as his capstone while earning his master's in social work. The idea came from a hard lesson he and his family learned firsthand: once you leave active duty, a lot of the support systems built for service members simply close their doors to you. James described being told he could no longer use the USO after retiring, despite years of volunteering there, and realized the same gap exists across dozens of other veteran-specific resources. Veterans OneSource is his answer ? a Military OneSource equivalent, but for veterans ? and Gina, with her own 40-plus years in federal government service, has been the driving operations force turning it from an idea into a fast-growing platform. In about three months they've gone from local to global, and they're now working with a programmer on a geo-searchable, AI-assisted, vetted resource database. Here?s the Veterans OneSource link for everyone ? check it out, and if you know an entity or event worth listing, they're actively taking submissions. (Event Submission Page)

Brian Cate (brian@getacuitist.com; private lender specializing in government contract financing, and more recently building Acuitist, a security-first AI tool for accountants and bookkeepers that integrates with QuickBooks) gave Gina and James a warm welcome and shared that Launchpad ? the startup incubator/accelerator he's been working with in the Upstate of South Carolina ? is standing up a dedicated veteran division, with cohorts currently running across South Carolina, North Carolina, and New York City. He mentioned introducing me to Jennifer, who's leading that effort ? I'll be following back up with her directly. Brian also gave us an honest update on Acuitist: the demos land well with accountants and fractional CFOs, but almost nobody is willing to pay for security-first AI tooling yet ? only 3% of accounting firms surveyed consider security critical. He's putting it on the shelf for now to see if the market catches up. On the automation front, we talked through what we're building on the VOB site to auto-reformat Community News posts out to LinkedIn, Facebook, and X with an approval gate in between ? Gina pointed us to a tool called Blotato for multi-platform posting, which I'll be checking out.

Gilberto "GB" De Leon (retired Army Armor/Cavalry officer, Airborne Ranger, independent insurance broker with USA Benefits Group, regenerative farmer, and founder of De Le?n Valor & Virtue Legacy; gdeleon@usabg.net; usabg.com/gdeleon) kept it short and short as always ? full-market independent broker with access to 80 carriers, protecting families and business owners while building toward a ranch that trains up future veterans in re-gen agriculture. Good to hear he and Dustin connected this week too.

Mark Miracle (Marine Corps veteran, Gulf War and Somalia, 1987?93; Fractional Sales Leader with Miracle Sales Advisory; mmiracle@salesxceleration.com) gave us his now well-practiced introduction ? sales consulting and execution for B2B businesses in the $5?50 million range, about eight months into building his own practice.

Kelvin Ching (Kaneohe, Hawaii-based financial strategist with Kelvin Ching and Associates / Mod Financial, focused on tax-free retirement and financial efficiencies for families and businesses; kchingandassociates@gmail.com) was back from a trip to Hokkaido, still shaking off the jet lag, and introduced himself to our newer faces.?

Lisa Bowers (founder, Office Allies ? executive-level admin/ops support, with a focus on hiring military spouses for remote roles; Lisa@officealliesllc.com) joined us mid-cooking a diabetic-friendly casserole for a friend having surgery ? multitasking at its finest. Office Allies is growing and she's hiring again, so if you know a military spouse looking for remote work, send them her way. She also connected with Gina, and I saw that meeting is already on the calendar. ?

Mark Spenelli (U.S. Army veteran, CDL-A driver, building toward a rural hospitality concept through Natures Edge Group; natures.edge.glampground@gmail.com) had a great weekend helping out at Owosso Speedway in Michigan ? turns out the connection Lisa made for him introduced him to the owner of Must See Racing, a multi-state sprint car series running from Florida up through Canada, and the two of them talk shop nearly every week now. Small world, good outcome.

Jake "The Flagman" Droge (South Dakota Army National Guard veteran and Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional with LoanDepot, working to complete a half-marathon carrying the American flag in all 50 states; jdroge@loandepot.com) had to jump off early for a work call, but not before checking in ? state 21 is done (Brighton, Michigan on the 4th), Illinois is next month, and he's off to the National VFW Conference in Reno next week. I'll follow up with him on getting some VOB material into his hands to take along.

Bill Clement (Navy veteran and energy broker with Wise Energy Solutions; bill@wisenergysolutions.com; wisenergysolutions.com; linkedin.com/in/billclement99) shared some genuinely eye-popping numbers from his utility-audit work with National Utility Refund ? a Michigan manufacturer saved $120,000 a year after a rate reclassification, and a New York company recovered $160,000 in tax incentives. He's looking to build relationships with CPAs and tax preparers, since utility audits pair naturally with tax-savings conversations ? makes sense to me. ?

David Kidd (Marine Corps veteran, IT leader, and Foundation Board President at The Lighthouse for the Blind; davidkidd@outlook.com) was with us again this week but had to drop early ? good to have him stop in regardless. He and Mark Spinelli have both connected with Ramese of QRFup planning more projects together.

A note on our site

One more housekeeping note: attendance was a bit lighter than usual today ? about 10 of us, versus the 15+ we've been getting most weeks. Kelvin flagged it during the call, and it's likely tied to a Zoom link change I had to make this week. The correct, current VOB Roundtable link is now posted on the VOB website homepage, about halfway down the page, just above the scrolling photos ? so if your calendar invite stopped working, that's the place to grab the fresh one and get it back on your calendar.

Mahalo,

Kevin 🍍🇺🇸

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Kevin Jackson

VOB Members at the National Social Media Awards

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VOB Roundtable Recap — July 14, 2026

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