By Deb Kroon
Review Staff Writer
Clint Kruger, a US Marine Corps veteran embodies the unofficial slogan of the Marine Corps, “Improvise, adapt and overcome.” As a service-disabled veteran, Clint, with some help from programs for veterans through the Department of Veteran Affairs, and lots of hard work, was able to start his small business “Preferred Electric.” He began in 2009 as a one-man business, and has grown the company to a multi-million dollar business, that now employs other veterans as well as civilians.
In an article in the Star Tribune called Sunday Conversation with Preferred Electric, Clint talked about his company, employing other veterans and the ups and downs of owning a small business. He stated to Matthew Niksa (reporter for the Star Tribune) that it was definitely a benefit to his company to be a service-disabled Veteran. He was able to rebound from the last recession quicker because of the ability to bet on a direct contract for VA projects. “Being a one-man shop (at the time) I knew I could not do these million dollar projects alone. I reached out to other electrical and mechanical shops to do a teaming agreement and we bid together on a government contract.” He added that being a Veteran has allowed his company to work in a field with the big boys. “If you don’t have the service-disabled certification, you can’t bid on certain government projects that are exclusively for service-disabled veteran owned small businesses,” Kruger explained. “We can bid on the prime contract and we can do the work.”
He was asked if he employed other veterans. Preferred Electric has employed 12 veterans through out the years, with six of them still working with the company today. The other six came on as apprentices and have moved on. “We don’t think that veterans and non-veterans are on a different level in terms of skill sets, or productivity,” Kruger said. “What it does, is when you hire a veteran, veteran to veteran, you can speak the language. If you’ve been in the service you have this common bond.”
Kruger’s growing company “Preferred Electric” is an inspiration to other Veterans, service-disabled or not. It is a sign that there is help and you can succeed after your time in the service, with a lot of hard work and determination, as well as the connections to other veterans and programs meant to assist.
Preferred Electric was named by the US Small Business Administration as the MN Veteran-owned Small Business of the Year in 2018.
