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Six months after representatives from Signal 88 Security started their search, a winner has been selected. Gregory Murphy of Salt Lake City, Utah has been chosen as the winner of Operation American Dream: From Battlefield to Boss. A U.S. Army veteran, Murphy will be awarded either $5,000 to start his own business, or $10,000 to open his own Signal 88 Security franchise. Starting in January, military veterans with the entrepreneurial spirit competed for seed money to open a business through Signal 88 Security’s contest. Each contestant submitted a 500-word essay which told of their desire to open their own business. The public voted on the participants and narrowed the field to five finalists. Each of these finalists was awarded a $500 cash prize and advanced to the finals. The selection criteria was based on the finalist’s essay and video entry, as well as questions and answers from a panel of judges that included military vets and representatives from Signal 88 Security. Gregory Murphy joined the United States Army in 1985 and completed 22 years of active duty, as well as 14 years in the Army Active Guard and Reserves. He is currently in the retirement process. Murphy is married and has seven children, his oldest daughter recently returned from serving in Afghanistan. “I’ve thought about this for some time now,” says Murphy. “Being named a finalist early in the contest gave me a chance to plan my next step, should I be the winner. I’m currently putting a team together to help me open a Signal 88 franchise, and I’m feeling both happy and surprised.” According to the Small Business Association Office of Advocacy, veterans are 45 percent more likely to delve into entrepreneurship than those with no active-duty military experience. “Signal 88 Security is a top employer of military veterans,” said Reed Nyffeler, CEO and co-founder of Signal 88 Security. “We were named on the G.I. Jobs list in 2012 among the top 10 percent of the nation’s franchises that are doing the most to recruit military veterans. Providing another deserving veteran with a chance to own his own business was a great opportunity for us to give back.” In 2007 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, veterans owned 2.4 million businesses, or 9 percent of all businesses nationwide, which generated...Continued Here
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