California Miramar University

As you know, we really care about our Military servicemen and women, veterans and Military families at California Miramar University. So this week we are giving the CalMU Small Business Spotlight Award to San Diego’s own The Pathfinder Group, a truly remarkable company dedicated to helping Veterans make the best possible transition from service back to society. They act as a link between employers and Military Veterans to help the former find great candidates for jobs and the latter land the jobs they want. They know and understand that Veterans need appropriate information of the choices available to them when they separate from the Armed Forces. They aim to make the transition simple and are the only military recruitment firm that creates military staffing and HR solutions.

Matt Brogdon is the man behind The Pathfinder Group. He is the Founder and President of the firm, an Air Force Academy graduate and a former Army Armor Officer. He is an expert in military recruiting and has been working for over 12 years connecting Military Veterans to companies, universities and schools across the country. Matt is often referred to as an expert of San Diego military talent acquisition, and he is a remarkable individual who has made a substantial impact on so many lives; it’s very heartwarming.

The thought of starting the firm struck Matt seeing his father struggle to find a job after he retired from the Air Force, taking him a few years to find the position to suit his talents. In 2009 Matt started The Pathfinder Group to make the Veteran transition simpler, enable Veterans to identify the right opportunities for themselves, and help the companies, schools and universities find the best Veterans candidates for their organizations.

Their commendable work has paved the way to Inc. Magazine’ 2012 GrowCo Conference as a Military Entrepreneur Delegate. We salute their hard work and dedication to our servicemen and women, and their success in helping Veterans readjust to society and excel in their careers. All in all, though, The Pathfinder Group is helping pave the way for Veterans to find and flourish in their careers and, with such great success in doing so, we are honored to give them this week’s Small Business Spotlight Award.

This week’s CalMU Small Business Spotlight is on San Diego’s very own Sullivan International Group. Not only are we thrilled to honor them for their commitment to and expertise in environmental renewability. We are very thrilled that CEO Steven Sullivan has just been named the 2012 Veteran Small Business Champion by the Small Business Administration’s local office. That’s right, he is a veteran of the Navy and that experience is actually what helped him with the birth and growth of his company.

He volunteered with the Navy when they needed to adapt to new environmental laws and regulations passed down from the 1992 Federal Facility Compliance Act. He jumped at the opportunity and saw how environmental renewability should be implemented on the governmental level. He later founded Sullivan International Group in 1998 and started seeing very successful results a few years later. Then in 2004, the company was ranked as the 7th fastest growing privately owned companies, with a 5-year annual sales growth of 1977%. Later in 2007, their revenue was $16.6 million, only to be eclipsed by a $41.1 million revenue in 2010, marking a 147% growth spurt in just a three year span.

More than their quick growth, though, we are thrilled that his experience in the Navy is what help set up his eventual successful company. As strong supporters of our Veterans and Armed Forces, and with our own Military Education Unit, nothing makes us happier than seeing our service men and women succeed. Steven Sullivan took his experience in the Navy and applied that to his own operations, but more importantly, he focused that knowledge he gained through his experience and now has many governmental agencies as clients (one of the many reasons Sullivan International Group has become so successful).

Sullivan International Group does so many things, but they are essentially an applied science, technology and environmental firm with four main divisions: Environmental Services, Mission Services, Remediation and Construction, and Environmental Technology. They cater to both the governmental and commercial sectors and handle all aspects of a project for their clients, emphasizing exceeding expectations and going to whatever lengths to deliver greatness.

For our on-campus, hybrid and online MBA students, Sullivan International Group is a clear example of getting involved in all aspects of your industry to truly understand it inside and out, giving back to the community and how to truly grow a small business empire.