Veteran 12 8 2016

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35 cents

VOL. 5/ISSUE 6

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2016

Veteran business group launches on Space Coast Patrick McCallister FOR VETERAN VOICE

pmccallister@veteranvoiceweekly.com

The Florida Association of Veteran Owned Businesses, FAVOB, has been around for about three years, and it’s readying to launch its first expansion chapter on the Space Coast. “We’re still in our infancy stages, but we’re making headway,” Jim Rice, secretary and vice chairman of the notfor-profit organization, said. The next area in FAVOB’s sights is Daytona Beach. FAVOB — which Rice described as a “chamber of commerce” — is headquartered in Orlando. “We’re trying to create hubs in other areas for local veterans there and veteran-owned businesses to benefit from our services,” Rice said. Member businesses and organizations are spread mostly along Interstate 4, from St. Petersburg to Sanford. Most of the members are in Seminole and Orange counties. Two are in Volusia, one in DeBary and the other Pierson. There’s a cluster of about 10 member businesses and organizations in Brevard. Rice said a big thrust for FAVOB is to

See FAVOB page 9

Photo by Marine Corps Sgt. William Hester Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Lawrence D. Nicholson, left, commander of the III Marine Expeditionary Force, reviews a design by Cpl. Matthew A. Long, a motor transport mechanic, for his idea to incorporate a blood clotting agent and painkiller with a Small Arms Protective Insert to minimize the time between injury and aid.

Life-saving invention nets Marine mechanic win in Corps Challenge Nelson Duenas DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

His hands are greasy from handling oilstained metal. Yellow light bleeds into the isometric structure of the warehouse. The low, dull melody of tools upon tools is almost a wash of white noise. He works with engines, wrenches and moves boxes, but within him lives an idea to save the lives of his fellow Marines. Marine Corps Cpl. Matthew A. Long, a motor transport mechanic with Motor Transport Company, 3rd Maintenance Battalion, at Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler, was recently selected as one of the winners of the 2016 Logistics Innovation Challenge. The challenge seeks to improve the Marine Corps by seeking innovative ideas from the force, a Marine Corps announcement said. Seventeen winning projects were selected

from the more than 300 entries submitted by Marines, sailors and civilians from across the Marine Corps. Winners will be teamed with sponsoring government-affiliated laboratories to prototype, experiment and implement their ideas.

Empowering Marines, Saving Lives Long designed a tear-proof package to sit behind a Small Arms Protective Insert — the ceramic body armor Marines wear under their “flak” jackets. It will be filled with a clotting agent as well as a pain-killing agent. When the packet is pierced, it will administer the quick-clotting agent and the painkiller, thus stopping the bleeding and numbing the pain, treating the body for shock immediately. “The whole point of this is immediate first

See INVENTOR page 9


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