Veteran’s Choice: Company celebrates new home, helps students

Veteran's Choice Contracting is celebrating a new chapter in its business and helping the next generation of skilled workers. The contracting company in Davenport hosted a Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 29, in honor of its new administration office building at 2324 Hickory Grove Road. The new site is just a couple of blocks from the ultra-busy Five Points section of the city.  The business moved into the building last fall after being in a much smaller location for years on the northern edge of Davenport at 7620 Louis Rich Court. “People love it here. We have lots more room to get work done,” said Emily Lewis, marketing director for Veteran's Choice, during the ceremony that attracted about 50 people. Ms. Lewis added that the new business building is home to nine Veteran's Choice employees. During that ceremony, Davenport Mayor Mike Matson welcomed Veteran's Choice to the west side of Davenport, adding it’s great to see businesses thrive in the community. “This is a small business growing, and that’s what we love,” Mr. Matson said. Shaine Mier, the owner of Veteran's Choice, thanked the community and customers for having faith in the company and providing it with the business to help the company grow. “They’ve let us tear apart their homes and put them back together,” he said about the company’s many customers over the years. Mr. Mier grew up in the home improvement industry, working with his grandfather's roofing company and other construction firms before joining the National Guard and completing a tour in Afghanistan. He started Veteran's Choice Contracting in 2017. Iowa has placed an emphasis on getting veterans in the state's workforce. Veteran's Choice employees handle a wide variety of jobs, including roofing, siding, gutters, decking or storm restoration services. In recent times, the company has been especially busy with roofing and storm damage projects, said Ms. Lewis. The celebration also focused on helping the next generation of skilled workers. Veteran's Choice donated $1,500, and thousands of dollars worth of tools to the Student Built Homes program. That program lets participating high school students experience hands-on learning as they build a home from start to finish. Student Built Homes currently has 16 students from Davenport, Bettendorf and North Scott schools. Some of the donated items included DeWalt brand saws and a wide variety of hand-held tools. Ty Evans, director of the Student Built Homes program and a teacher at Davenport West High School, said he’s grateful for the monetary donation and the new tools. Those tools will allow many of the students to get more hands-on experience with tools of the trade. “It’s going to give them more of an opportunity to use some of these tools and get used to them,” he added.