Veterans Day 2019: Monterey Success Story

Return to Veterans Day 2019

Advanced Onion’s founder and CEO Paul Temple, a veteran himself, has made a commitment to hiring veterans. Earlier this year, Advanced Onion was recognized with a California Employer Advisory Council Veterans Employer of the Year Award. Seth Gibson Employer: Advanced Onion The EDD highlights Advanced Onion, Inc., a tech company and government contractor in Monterey, Calif., that is headed by a disabled veteran. With the help of the EDD, Advanced Onion has found great success in bringing other veterans on board.

In the coastal city of Monterey, you’ll find information technology company Advanced Onion. While the company’s name might bring upon notions of the area’s agriculture industry, Advanced Onion is anything but agrarian.

“We’re primarily a government contracting company where we look for services contracts within the federal and state government,” says company founder and CEO, Paul Temple.

A high-tech firm dealing in the realm of IT software and security, the company is in regular contact with veterans and the US Department of Defense. So it’s only fitting that Temple is a veteran himself with decades of service in the US Army.

“I retired as a Warrant Officer III,” he comments.

Many of his employees are veterans, as well. Advanced Onion senior project manager, Seth Gibson, spent 21 years in the Marine Corps, serving most of that time as a helicopter pilot. Gibson points out that the transition from military to civilian life isn’t always easy.

“In fact, it’s quite scary, the transition,” he says.

To ease that transition, California Employment Development Department (EDD), and its partners such as the One-Stop Career Center of Monterey County, support veterans who are transitioning out of the armed forces with employment services to help connect them with employment opportunities.

“Veterans have special skills, lots of quality training from the military, and we try to match those skills and qualifications to the job market,” explains EDD employment program manager, Alan Burrafato. “And part of our job is to help employers find and relate to the veteran clients who have all these special skills.”

It’s a testament to the quality of assistance the EDD provides to both job-seeking veterans and veteran-seeking employers alike.

“The level of support is probably unparalleled,” says Gibson.

Fernando Pimentel, an EDD veterans representative in the Salinas office, has been assisting Advanced Onion in hiring veterans for the past two years. He’s often one of the first to know when the company is looking to add new veterans to its staff.

“As soon as they have an opening, they give us a call,” he says.

It’s a call that Advanced Onion, which was recognized earlier this year with a California Employer Advisory Council Veterans Employer of the Year Award, for its positive policies in hiring and promoting US veterans, has made numerous times in the past; and one they’ll continue to make as the company continues to grow.

“Because of the type of business that we do, we find a lot of value in the experience that veterans bring to the table as well as their work ethic,” explains Temple. “I think our relationships have been a key part to our success.”