David Dinerman just finished Ranger school and Micah Petersen was just commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant. Both serve in the military as infantry officers. The two are just beginning their careers in the service and want to form a stronger relationship between veterans and civilians.
Petersen had an idea four years ago that he took to his friend, Dinerman.
They searched for a cause for the idea and found an article in TIME saying that Houston Texas, was rated the No. 1 place for military veterans to retire.
At the time, Dinerman and Petersen were both ROTC cadets at the University of Delaware. The two liked the idea of representing the beginning and the end of a military career with the two states. So they organized a run from The First State of Delaware to Houston to raise money for their cause, veterans' societies.
During a four-year period, the two founded their business, Reviresco. The name of the company is Latin for the word "renewal." The company is based on the foundation of creating a more personal connection between civilians and the military.
“We established Reviresco’s mission to educate society on how to go beyond thanking a veteran for their service,” said Petersen. “Our mission was based on findings that there was a huge educational need among civilians with regards to how they interact with veterans. We found out also after research that only 1 percent of our population serve in the military today, which could be a correlation.”
Petersen and Dinerman joined forces with other new members of the military to produce six runners who run relay-style for the cause in five-mile increments. The money they raise funds the company throughout the year and also funds donations to veterans societies.
The runners are Stone Shoaf from New Mexico, Nick Rizzi from Baltimore, Sam Kralowetz from Texas, Lucas Partlow from Delaware, Garrett Burnett from New York and Micah Petersen from Houston.
During the year, the business runs educational programs in universities and companies who hire the group. One of the largest energy distributors along the East Coast has hired Reviresco to educate their supervisors on how to better relate to their veteran employees and to ensure that there is a better veteran retention.
According to research, funded through Reviresco, 60 percent of veterans within the first two years of getting a job in the civilian sector lose that job within the second year due to lack of communication with their supervisors and a lack of engagement with fellow employees.
This year’s run began June 3 in New York City at Ground Zero. The run’s duration is for three weeks and the destination is Miami Beach. The run ends Saturday. The runners will have progressed 1,400 miles.
According to Peterson, the group has raised $5,000 so far. The money goes to their educational program to produce T-shirts, wristbands, branding and annual operations. Petersen said that they would like to, in the future, create extended relationships with businesses, colleges, and the general public.
For more information, visit www.crowdrise.com/reviresco-inc.
