You’ve heard ‘hire a vet’; how about ‘give a vet a business?’
The timing was terrific.
Last November, US Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Chris Williams was preparing to retire from service after 21 years, over which span he earned three Purple Hearts.
Williams and his wife, Jessica, were expecting their third child — Caroline, who was born July 3. Williams also has a 14-year-old daughter who lives in North Carolina.
Still just 42 and his family expanding, Williams needed work. Thanks to Mark and Holly Peterson, of Okatie, Williams got a job. This year, he got a lot more: His own business.
It became official in mid-May. The Williamses are the new owners of Dog Guard of the Lowcountry.
The business is one of 130 dealerships around the country for the Troy, N.Y.-based company, which sells out-of-sight fencing for homes. The Petersons had owned and operated it since 2002.
“Honestly it’s just an amazing opportunity that I’m beyond grateful for that they gave to me and my family,” Williams said “This gives us the ability, with me retiring from the military, to live a lot more comfortable than I thought.”
After five combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Northbridge, Mass., native and his wife settled in Beaufort in 2012. Williams began working as a marksmanship instructor on Parris Island – where he became a Marine in November 1995 – in addition to volunteering. He retired in May as a gunnery sergeant.
For two years he was the coordinator for the annual Wounded Warrior & Wheelchair Hunt at Nemours Plantation, which Mark Peterson founded 11 years ago. The two met last summer during planning for the 2015 event, hosted by the Safari Club International Lowcountry Chapter.
“It came up in conversation that we had these two businesses and that we had made attempts to donate one to Wounded Warrior Marines,” said Peterson, whose remaining business is Superior Sharpening Services, based out of Okatie.
With their Dog Guard business picking up again after the recession, and with their sharpening business booming, the Petersons decided they wanted to “find a suitable Wounded Warrior” who could take over ownership.
“Him being a Marine, I was talking to him about how we were disappointed that we thought we had a couple good candidates and for various reasons they didn’t work out,” Peterson said. He and his wife came close a couple times to just selling the business.
It was music to Williams’ ears.
“I was thinking, ‘Wow, that’s a pretty cool opportunity...’” he said. “(Mark) asked me if I wanted to come do a couple jobs with him (in January) to try it out and see if it was something I was interested in, and I was very interested in it.”
By the end of March, Williams, hard-working and eager, was pretty much running the show. The Petersons felt confident they had found the right person to take over.
“It would be hard to put a (monetary) value on what we gave him,” Peterson said. “The way I look at it is what we truly gave him is an opportunity to step out of a career of service to his country as a self-employed business owner.”
This story was originally published July 10, 2016 at 6:00 AM with the headline "You’ve heard ‘hire a vet’; how about ‘give a vet a business?’."