Barry Mattson represented his country in the U.S. Air Force and Army. Since his military days, he’s used his experience in community building and humanitarian efforts to pay it forward to the next generation of aspiring business owners and job seekers.
Mattson’s leadership as part of the nonprofit Brian Hamilton Foundation will be among numerous efforts on display as veteran entrepreneurs are celebrated during National Veterans Small Business Week, taking place nationwide from Nov. 3-7 under the guise of the Small Business Administration (SBA).
As of Friday morning there were 32 virtual and in-person events scheduled per the SBA website, aimed to celebrate and empower current service members, veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, and military spouse entrepreneurs.
The most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau from 2022 shows 1,651,542 veteran-owned firms in the U.S. An SBA spokesperson referenced those numbers to Military.com.
Iraq Deployment
Earlier this month Barry Mattson was officially appointed CEO of the Brian Hamilton Foundation, bringing experience through a variety of past ventures including as CEO of Rise Against Hunger, driving international humanitarian efforts with Grey Bull Rescue, launching community-driven initiatives with Combined Arms and The Mission Continues, and advising governments through Gobez International.
“Barry brings the experience and bias for action to scale our impact,” Brian Hamilton, founder and chairman of the foundation, said in a statement. “We are moving fast to expand programs for veterans and youth and roll out the new Starter U. Under Barry’s leadership, we intend to open the door of entrepreneurship for people across the world.”
The mission for Mattson began decades earlier.
He is originally from Yam Hill, Oregon, a town of about 700, and from there went to the United States Air Force Academy to fly fighters—later becoming a captain of the aerobatic flying team there.
But as he was getting ready to graduate, it was discovered during his physical that he was partially colorblind.
“I couldn't fly for the Air Force anymore,” Mattson told Military.com.
He decided to pursue acquisitions program management, described as the business side of the Air Force. Shortly thereafter, the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, occurred.
That led to five active-duty years within the Air Force which included one combat deployment to Balad, Iraq, in the mid-2000s.
Leaving Commodities For 'Purpose'
Mattson then left the Air Force to pursue a business degree, looking at investment banking or commodity trading and consulting while attaining his MBA at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
As someone who grew up on farms, his intent was to help increase margins for farmers worldwide. He went the commodity trading route in agribusiness.
“I did that for a while, and then I had a moment on the trading floor where I had kind of lost that sense of purpose that a lot of veterans need in their mission,” he said. “So, I actually went back to a place where I knew I had a mission and a team and a purpose, and I joined the Army as a civil affairs officer and [was] deployed to Iraq again.”
That second deployment was around 2010-11. It allowed Mattson to use the knowledge he learned about agribusiness in the private sector to become one of the liaisons between the Department of Defense and the Iraqi Minister of Agriculture and Baghdad University's agriculture program, both farmers’ union leaders.
Being out in the community showed him how others routinely live, and further exposed him to the poverty that exists outside of his and many other’s bubbles.
Helping Veterans Thrive
Mattson’s travels in the nonprofit and humanitarian spaces have taken him from Ethiopia to Houston, Texas, and to Florida, Puerto Rico and back to Raleigh, North Carolina.
National Veterans Small Business Week is a way for individuals like Mattson and the foundation he represents to connect, as he described, the huge spectrum of different people who are figuring out their next life steps in a post-military existence.
“The No. 1 first and foremost thing that the data has shown us is that people are looking for a job,” he said, “and once that job requirement is met and people can take care of their families, then a very close second is that sense of purpose.
“I am here to tell people that they don't need to rejoin the military like I did to find that sense of purpose, and there's enough need here at home in our communities; there's enough opportunity here at home for people to work on their own terms.”
That may translate to veterans starting their own businesses, or finding employment at companies of differing sizes that are managed and/or started by other veterans empathetic to certain characteristics like loyalty, discipline and hard work.
Some veterans frankly are tired of being on the receiving end of barked orders, Mattson added. But veterans, like countless other humans, can be just as apoplectic about technological changes affecting the way the world has traditionally operated—specifically referencing the speculation regarding AI.
“The trade skills [veterans] learned in the military, those jobs are going to be more and more needed,” Mattson said. “I'm also partnering with community organizations that have 10-week courses on carpentry or advanced manufacturing, trade skills that are not going away because of AI.
“I think those are really important for people who…need a solid paycheck, and they already have the skills to get there.”
