Veteran owned company builds community and comfort here in Chicago

Sitting down in a college classroom after his service in the U.S. Marines, Michael Greco felt out of place surrounded by his younger peers, but where he did not feel out of place was at JDog Junk Removal, a job which quickly became so much more for the veteran.

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Operating out of Lake Zurich, Greco began working at the franchise simply as an employee and a way to pass time with friends, but it didn’t take long for the company to offer him a partnership making him the owner of his own location. Greco said he felt connected with the company because he was working with other veterans in an environment that made him feel more relaxed.

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“For me, coming [to JDog] to an environment where you’re working every single day and seeing other veterans is the coolest aspect of the job,” Greco said. “Everyone comes to work every day and they all interact and have great interactions with one another and that really builds confidence, especially for a lot of veterans.”

Not only is the business helping veterans by employing them and building confidence, but they also help in a more material way. JDof Junk Removal partners with another organization to donate a large portion of the items they recover from their jobs. These recovered items often furnish homes for homeless veteran’s looking for a place to stay.

Junk removal is a pretty standard occupation seeing little change over the years, but Greco said the great thing about JDog is while they aren’t necessarily reinventing the wheel, they are finding new ways to use it. By giving back to the veteran community there is a sense of pride in the employees who found their work on three ideas: respect, integrity and trust.

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Staffing veteran and “veteran friendly citizes,” as Greco said, the company’s employees value and understand the service they are providing, taking care to do each job to the best of their abilities. JDog was not simply a way to make money for Greco and is more than that for many of their employees, it’s a place to give back and find purpose and comfort all in one.

“I didn’t get into business to make money,” Greco said. “I got into business because I want to help veterans and at the end of the day, when it comes down to it, we, as veterans, get what it means to serve and we service our customers well.”

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