Dennis Stone’s mission

Helping disabled veterans turn the corner

by Paul Spicer

Dennis Stone precariously teetered on a steep ridge along the top of Mont Blanc, easily 15,700 feet of sheer madness, in the French Alps. With a thick fog settling on nearby glaciers, he could barely make out his fellow climbers, all of whom were roped together behind him and battling for air.

Stone smiled, he likes a good fight. Having served in a number of command and staff assignments, including Special Forces Company Commander for the U.S. Army, Stone doesn’t back down from much. Whether it’s living for a month in a tent in Alaska, at 40 below zero, to exceeding the rigorous demands of Ranger School at Fort Benning, Stone has conquered it.

His new employer, Richmond-based technology company TecAccess, has developed this program for training disabled veterans returning from the Global War on Terror (GWOT) under his guidance. The project, known as VetAccess, has already proven its merit throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

“This one-of-a-kind program uses assistive technology, such as screen readers and voice-activated controls, for much-needed training opportunities for recently disabled veterans,” Stone says with passion.

Finding the Ability in Disability

Veterans with disabilities face challenges both physical and mental upon their return home, he explains. In many cases, they are no longer able to do the job they were trained to do after years of highly organized schooling in the military.

Stone says that his efforts with the VetAccess program will assist these soldiers to secure employment in a “safe” environment that is sensitive to the changes they are experiencing. The idea is to help them transition their skills and accommodate their special needs in the civilian workplace.

Stone has personally transitioned successfully from military to civilian life too, and has since emerged as an active boomer with a cause. A graduate of Norwich University with a degree in business administration, he has had a career in the Army, on active duty as well as in reserve units, eventually retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel. His military schooling included everything from Airborne and Ranger training to Military Mountaineering and Special Forces (Green Beret) training.

“I’m never satisfied with the status quo, and I always think I can do more,” says Stone. And he’s done just that. As a civilian, he began making an impact at Thomson NETg where he sold and implemented distance learning programs, managed account teams and developed business plans to grow NETg’s Federal Training market share. When Thomson NETg was sold to Skill- Soft in 2007, Stone decided to say his goodbyes and settle into a new role.

Many successful business leaders would have hit the golf course or sought faraway travel. Stone looked for other ways to make an impact. An avid outdoorsman who runs at least three miles every morning, he knew he wanted to remain active - and he knew he wanted to give back.

Stone decided to use this enthusiasm for meeting and exceeding new challenges to inspire the outcropping of recently disabled veterans in Virginia looking for employment. “What’s important right now is really getting this program going to help these guys, that’s really the single most important thing … it may take years’ worth of work doing it, but I’m focused on doing it, and doing it well.”

Stone knows that many soldiers may not be comfortable working outside their rehabilitative environment while they are adjusting to living back home with a disability. For this reason, his new program utilizes a unique telecommuting model and assistive technology equipment that can be used from the returning soldier’s place of business, home, rehabilitation facility or hospital bed.

“VetAccess is the first of its kind of program in the nation and is unique in that it prepares disabled veterans at a secondary and tertiary level for a successful career in technical and knowledgebased fields, such as information technology, intelligence, security and financial planning.”

Expanding his focus

In Virginia, Stone’s timely efforts with VetAccess have spilled into yet another need — jobs in the state that relate to making technology more accessible to others with disabilities. In such a role, disabled veterans are trained to work in the high-tech field and are then placed in employment positions that help the state of Virginia meet the new Virginia IT Accessibility Initiative, a recent mandate that requires all technology used by the state to be accessible to employees and citizens with disabilities. Turning to TecAccess for assistance, the state is finding a valuable workforce produced from the disabled veteran training program.

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine explains, “The Commonwealth is home to 740,000 veterans who served the cause of freedom in war and in peace, at home and abroad. Our Commonwealth owes a great debt to these brave men and women and their families. We must ensure that our veterans and their families receive the benefits, support, quality care and recognition they have earned through service and sacrifice.”

Kaine has since directed all state agencies to identify opportunities, such as TecAccess’s disabled veterans training program, and to partner with the Department of Veterans Services, Department of Rehabilitative Services and Virginia Employment Commission to offer new and customized services that will meet the needs of veterans, especially those now living with disabilities.

Under such a partnership, Stone plans to offer an innovative approach that will increase employment for Virginia’s disabled veterans and, most important, guarantee participants professional training and employment. “This kind of public-and-private- sector collaboration is the most effective answer, not only for Virginia’s veterans, but all of the country’s veterans,” says Stone.

The desired outcome, he adds, is “successful employment for disabled veterans in jobs or professions with a competitive salary and growth opportunity.” Best of all, Stone’s training program benefits both the disabled veteran and the hiring organization by empowering disabled veterans to leverage their unique and newly marketable qualifications to organizations with demonstrated needs. “We’re providing veterans with a positive focus during their initial rehabilitation period,” says Stone. “It effectively keeps their intellect active and the individual involved in positive activities during rehabilitation.”

With benefits abounding, sponsors (both public and private) are now jumping on board as Stone expands VetAccess to other states. Businesses hiring newly trained veterans are finding that disabled veterans are loyal employees. These veterans, part of the all-volunteer army, are self-motivated, intelligent and hard-working. Despite physical disabilities, this pool of potential employees has already shown courage and determination, with work histories and job skills that are directly applicable to many jobs. “Veterans are highly motivated despite physical disabilities. This pool of potential employees has demonstrated a willingness to persevere under difficult circumstances.”

And Stone should know.

Paul Spicer is a Richmond-based freelance writer, columnist and published author. His most recent book, British Virgin Islands: The Hometown Lowdown Guide to Travel and Taste, debuts soon. When not writing, Paul serves as a marketing and media consultant.