A Great Fit for Veterans

**ASP SOLANO AND ASP SHOOTING RANGE** [www.aspsolano.com](http://www.aspsolano.com/) [www.facebook.com/aspsolano](https://www.facebook.com/aspsolano) ASP Solano and ASP Shooting Range offers firearms sales and training. The company is located in Vacaville, California, southeast of Sacramento, and operates two stores – which are within about five minutes of each other. The stores service all of the East Bay Area as well as the Sacramento Valley. ASP Solano and ASP Shooting Range has 10 employees. In 2014, the company topped $1.3 million in sales; and it is projecting $2.5 million for 2015. The company tends to hire veterans, based mostly on the exemplary quality of work they provide. The company is always looking for well qualified, friendly, and hard-working individuals to staff their retail store and range. ASP struggles to find people who have working firearm knowledge and the customer service skills needed to excel. The firearms and range industry provides a platform for veterans who want to continue their activity with firearms – which many have as a personal hobby. Veterans make the best employees because of their outstanding ability to apply attention to detail, ensure their own safety and that of the people around them, follow directions, and work well under pressure and in team settings. ###A VETERAN SUCCESS | JORGE GUTIERREZ Jorge Gutierrez spent four years in the United States Marine Corps, separating as a sergeant. He joined the California Army National Guard in 2006, and is now a sergeant first class. His main responsibilities in the military included transportation, security forces, recruiting, and retention. He is now an owner/operator at ASP Solano and ASP Shooting Range. He ensures that firearm retail operations are functioning, and he stays abreast of firearms laws, trends, styles and functioning. Gutierrez started working at the organization in 2012. Among his accomplishments is expanding and purchasing an indoor range under the deadline of a five-year business plan. “Being in the military gave me the training, structure, discipline, and leadership to be able to form and grow my own company,” he said. “I have learned how to lead from the front and show my employees how to grow – taking ownership and using personal initiative to get further.” He credits his military experience with his success. “Being able to work under pressure as well as in a team setting has been one of the saving graces, and a skill I wouldn't possess without the training I received in the military,” he said. “Being a recruiter for over five years gave me the organizational skills to actually get things done.” He believes veterans need to pursue their passion in their post-military employment. “I would like to think that my company is a great place for veterans because it allows them to do what so many of them love, and most times doesn't even feel like being at work,” he said. Gutierrez said that veterans should not let their skills and experience get lost in translation. “Put your best foot forward and don't apologize for being overqualified,” he said. “The skills we all learn in the military are more than valuable in the civilian sector; it’s just about translating them right. As for applying for work at ASP Solano and ASP Shooting Range, he encourages veterans to use what they learned in the military. “Be yourself,” he said. “Use the discipline that was engrained in you to do great things. We look for people who want to do a good job for themselves.”