Veteran Chris Young, a former U.S. Navy lieutenant commander, said that Verde Earth Technologies started out as an organization called Vets for Hire that was conceived around a campfire11 years ago. Originally intended as a land-scaping and remodeling business, the group later began working with organizations such as Friends of the Verde River on conservation projects, and in 2021, they created Verde Earth Technologies to take over the contract be cause they wanted to continue working outdoors.
Their jobs include clearing debris, working on a healthy forests initiative, cutting invasive plants and moving materials.
“We have grown as an organization since 2021,” Young said. “We did not do landscaping, so we morphed into a contractor, a federal and state government contractor.” Verde Earth averages four to five contracts running concurrently across Arizona and also works with the city of Cottonwood, the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service.
Young said that the company caters to disabled veterans, as being outdoors has a beneficial effect on the nervous system.
“Our tagline, our slogan is ‘continuing to serve,’” Young said. “A lot of these guys when they get out, the lack of purpose, the lack of structure, the lack of service can really play on them mentally, too. And so by giving them some of that it really gives them something to work towards.
”Employees are taught skills including tree felling, firefighting and leadership mentoring, and the company consequently attracts former prisoners who gained experience in the latter line of work while on prison work details. The job pays $20 an hour and is a steady job that often helps sort things out with workers’ parole officers, helping get them back on their feet. Young said that Verde Earth employees tend to average around a year with the company and build up their resumes before leaving for other job opportunities.
“Working with the vets, and working with the prisoners, it kind of all just happened,” Young said. “I’m not some great altruistic person trying to make this happen. It kind of all just came together like that and were just kind of doing it and we’re working with it. I don’t want to come off as some kind of great cause-leading, nonprofit thing, because that’s not what we are.”
