Last week, The Bowen Team, in partnership with Marine Corps Headquarters, had the pleasure of wrapping up the last pilot course for Are You Listening? at Camp Pendleton, CA. Over the past year, we have worked with the Marine Corps to develop a course for Marine Corps Community Services employees that also captures the essence of what we do at The Bowen Group: we are prevention. For some, the idea that what we do is related to prevention may seem a little far-fetched, but consider this:

The Department of Defense (DoD)’s Quality of Life programs are designed to help ensure our service members (single and married) and family members have (a) healthy outlets to deal with the stressors of their unique lifestyle; and (b) access to services that can assist when they are in distress. They are protective factors against social isolation, boredom, financial problems, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault, and suicide. By assisting in developing e-learning modules, guides, websites, curriculum, competencies, etc., and getting the word out about what DoD has to offer, each of us plays a role in preventing issues from escalating into unmanageable situations.

What we do matters, regardless of what position we hold at The Bowen Group! Whether we are call center representatives, administrative assistants, contracts administrators, technical writers, instructional designers, or managers, we make a difference in our military community! As a proud military spouse and member of The Bowen Team, I truly appreciate the pride each of us at The Bowen Group takes in our work. Keep fighting the good fight!

Cassie Grainger
Communications Specialist
The Bowen Group

It didn’t take long to feel the energy in the room at the Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP) launch on June 29, 2011. Excitement filled the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. along with high-caliber men and women who had come to support MSEP, a budding program launched by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Military Community and Family Policy. The Partnership supports our military spouses by connecting them to jobs with Fortune 500 plus companies.

Speaking at the MSEP launch were Thomas J. Donohue, President of the Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Clifford L. Stanley, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Mr. Robert Gordon, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Deborah Mullen, spouse of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and keynote speaker Dr. Jill Biden, Second Lady of the United States – an all-star lineup showcasing the skill, value, and work ethic military spouses bring to the workforce, our economy, and our nation.

Addressing a common sentiment among military spouses, Mrs. Mullen said, “All I wanted was to get in the door to be able to be judged on my merits, my qualifications, and strengths.” As she said that, I began to think about a conversation I once had with my mother. A retired educator and a military spouse, she experienced firsthand the difficulty in finding work because of her responsibilities as a military spouse.

“Nobody would ever dare hire a military spouse back in my day,” my mother told me. “Companies did not want to take the time to invest in us professionally, provide training or assimilate us into a new position knowing that in a year or two, we may be moved out of that particular state. How could young military wives compete with non-military wives in the job market who could offer more stability? There just was not a consciousness about it.”

Today, because of MSEP and the partnerships it has developed with the public, private, and nonprofit sector, perceptions of military spouses in the workforce are changing. Retired military spouses like my mother are thrilled to be witnessing positive, tangible alliances between the United State government, and the Chamber of Commerce to meet the needs of military spouses who wish to pursue careers.

I am proud to have been a part of the team here at Bowen who helped to support this endeavor. While at the event, it brought me great joy to see the materials, that our team had so carefully designed, circulate throughout the rooms. It was thrilling to see the oversized posters and stand-up banners we had developed flanking the stage as fifteen new MSEP partners signed a Statement of Support joining the fifty-seven existing MSEP partners – an elite group that includes Wal-Mart, Lockheed Martin, Amazon, and Northrop Grumman. This was truly a long overdue partnership to create opportunities for military families and redefine the perception of working military spouses as an asset instead of a liability.

I have great faith that this partnership will continue to flourish and grow. It is my hope that each year, more and more companies will begin to bring military spouses in for interviews, to open that door for them, and to realize the potential and the possibilities when it comes to supporting our military families in the workplace.

To learn more about MSEP, please visit https://www.msepjobs.com

Keri Saunders
Graphic Designer
The Bowen Group

For a company that began as the rhetorical “twinkle in the eye” back in 2005, The Bowen Group could hardly be doing better. With revenue on the rise and its employee roster invading three pages (up from a humble one page, one line), it only made sense for the Airlie Teambuilding Conference of 2011 to start off with a bit of flair and a bit of a celebration the night before the conference was to officially begin.

The first full day of the retreat was a series of revelations. As someone new to the private sector, I had to sit in awe for a moment. I surveyed the large, well-appointed room to see forty or more industry professionals sitting around me—each at the top of his or her game, bent not on sitting back and relishing that success, but on “Taking it to the Next Level”. And, indeed, that became the theme of the weekend for me, a reminder we can all take to heart: Yes, we’re great. But how can we raise the bar for success?

The rest of the weekend took its cue from Airlie Retreat: Day One, providing tips, examples, and figures on how to make something better out of what is already pretty darn good. How can we better understand the military community? By answering the unanswerable questions via Military Acculturation 101. The Contracts Overview let the rest of us see what an elite few do, and Taking It to the Next Level-Part One gave real-life testimony to pursuing your passion to become a better, more satisfied human being. Later the same night we learned the percolator (or was it the electric slide?). The list goes on.

Like any work conference, there were meetings and there were requirements. But unlike any conference, those meetings were accented with peals of laughter, relevant content, and eyes glued to the future as we developed personal and professional goals.

The Bowen Group has broken onto the scene with such a collection of inspiring and passionate individuals and has met with such success that it is impossible to ignore the fact that better people make better companies. Our retreat together became an experience that blended the lines between being a person and being an employee—an experience that shined a light on doing all we can to be the best of both.

As for me, nothing could have been more reassuring that I have chosen the right home for a career. The kind of supportive environment enabled by such a collection of personable people is unmatched to any I have come across and is one that I am confident will allow me to achieve those personal and professional goals we so purposefully set.

Sarah  Marbach
Technical Editor
The Bowen Group

During the 23 years I have worked in military community support programs, I have been amazed and delighted with the advances that new policies and technologies have made in the way we now deliver and manage services; these changes have greatly expanded reach and service offerings. It has been an honor to be a part of this progression that has resulted in truly innovative approaches to better reach military members, family members, and civilian workforce.

But regardless of improvements in policy and technology, I know they would be meaningless without the real driver in service delivery: compassion for human beings. Policies cannot dictate compassion, nor can technologies create it.

I am proud of our Bowen Group team members and feel privileged to work with them. We are compassionate people who are enthusiastically committed to the well-being of individuals serving the military community. Our clients, too, are equally compassionate and committed….which makes our job that much more fun and that much more rewarding!

So, it is with great pride that we unveil our new website that I hope tells our story. I’m also pleased that we are finally in our new and larger office spaces – whew!  We plan to host a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house in early 2011.  We will keep you posted!  In the meantime, please drop in if you are in the area!

Sincerely,
Deborah Bowen Mayberry
President and Founder
The Bowen Group