VETERANS ELITE SERVICES was named the winner of a BRONZE Stevie® Award in the VETERAN-OWNED BUSINESS of the YEAR category in The 17th Annual American Business Awards®.

Jacksonville business owner puts hiring veterans in national spotlight
‘I hire veterans because I want to have the best company in the country’

To be selected as a 40 Under 40 honoree requires a good deal of career success, with each of the young professionals showcased in these pages having helped create or grow a successful enterprise.

“We have 30 employees now, and 28 of them are veterans, and all of the 28 had a difficult transition when they came home. I wanted to create a company that will allow people to have a good job and an equal opportunity company.”

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity recognized VES for success in employing combat disabled veterans.

Jacksonville has longed been shaped by the military — from the active-duty service members who are stationed in the area to the former military personnel who have built a second chapter of their life here.

Each year, the Jacksonville Business Journal picks a select few veterans who have had a major impact on the area after hanging up their uniform.

The Veterans of Influence award acknowledges those who have given back to the community by leading companies, organizing philanthropic projects and using the skills and talents they developed in uniform to make their mark on the First Coast. These honorees make a difference and help set the standard for the rest of Jacksonville’s business community.

The BizTech Innovation Awards honors those who have set the bar in developing, utilizing and leading when it comes to the use of technology in their own company and with their business partners.

Semper Fidelis – Always Faithful. That familiar salute of the U.S. Marine Corps, is also the mantra of Joe Padlos’ cleaning company, Veterans Elite Services (FKA USMMFC). Padlo, a resident of St. Augustine, served in the Marine Corps on active duty from 1997 to 2004 and in the reserves from 2004 to 2008. He was one of the first Americans to cross Breach Point West in Basrah, Iraq in the early morning hours of March 20, 2003.

The Jacksonville Jaguars and Web.com revealed Veterans Elite Services as the winner of the 2^nd annual Small Business Breakthrough powered by Web.com in a broadcast Saturday night on WJXT Channel 4. As the winner, Veterans Elite Services has already worked with Web.com to finish a complete online makeover of their web site www.veteranseliteservices.com, and the new brand was introduced at the Jaguars’ nationally-televised home preseason game at EverBank Field on Sunday night.

Today the Jacksonville Jaguars and Web.com revealed the finalists for the 2^ndannual Small Business Breakthrough powered by Web.com. The six local companies are preparing to enter the final round this Thursday and face a panel of judges, including Jaguars Owner Shad Khan and Web.com CEO David Brown

As a 10-year veteran of the Marine Corps who worked convoy missions in Iraq, Joe Padlo knows what it’s like to get down in the trenches with his troops. Now, as the founder and owner of Veterans Elite Services (FKA USMMFC), 36-year-old Padlo gets down there to scrub a floor while out on a cleaning job with his fellow employees.