“ The Veteran Economy: Impacts on the Bottom Line”

**THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED***

The Charlotte City Club
121 W Trade St. 31st Floor
Charlotte NC 28202

Wednesday, November 6th
11:30-1:30pm

11:30-Doors Open/12:00 Lunch Begins

The event will feature an expert panel of Veteran business leaders who will explore the significant impact Veterans have on workforce dynamics and economic performance. Participants will gain valuable insights into how the unique skills, discipline, and leadership qualities of Veterans enhance business operations, foster a culture of resilience, and impact growth in industry.

First Sergeant Matt Eversmann (USA, Retired)

In August 1993, Matt and his Ranger company deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia in support of Operation Gothic Serpent. The battle was made famous by the best selling book and movie Black Hawk Down. Matt spent almost nine years in the elite 75th Ranger Regiment. He later served as the Operations Sergeant at the US Army War College and taught leadership at The Johns Hopkins University. Matt!s last military assignment was an Infantry Company First Sergeant in the 10th Mountain Division. He and his men spent 15 months in Iraq during “the Surge” fighting Al-Qaeda and implementing the counter insurgency strategy. Matt was a Master rated parachutist, a sniper and an honor graduate of Ranger School. He also wore Royal Thai, Egyptian and British jump wings.

Matt retired in 2008 and spent a decade in the healthcare, non-profit and data management sectors before exploring his entrepreneurial spirit. He is a Partner and Co-founder of Eversmann Advisory, a consulting firm in West Palm Beach. His specialty is preparing young leaders to join and compete in the workforce.

For his service in Mogadishu, Matt was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor device. In 2019 he won an Emmy for his PBS documentary “Send Me” about the advances of battle field medicine in Afghanistan. He has co-authored four non-fiction NYT Best Sellers with James Patterson. Their fifth book, “American Heroes” hits the shelves in October 2024.

James T. McGahey is the VP of Training for West Shore Home, a growing national home remodeling company. James is responsible for all initial entry training and manager training of a 2800-person business, across 17 states, and over 40 branches and corporate sites. He leads a team of 30 employees that delivers training utilizing multiple types of instruction within the multiple different career field and is one of the principal leaders of leadership development for the health and strength of the company.

Prior to being the VP of Training, James was the Director of General Manager Training and Development after a 13-month General Manger role. He was the General Manger of the second largest branch and was consistently in the top 5% of branch profitability.

Prior to joining West Shore Home, James was a career Army Infantry officer, leading from platoon to Brigade command over a 26-year career. James served in all types of infantry and calvary formations and served several tours on general staffs. James spent over 40 months deployed to combat zones, multiple operational level deployments and several theater cooperation missions.

James earned his commission and bachelor’s degree (History) from Western Michigan University, earned a National Security and Strategic Studies master’s degree from the Navy War College, and was an academic fellow at Duke University. James is married to Julie of 29-years, son Gavin is a United States Coast Guard rescue pilot, and daughter Marah is a junior at Liberty University studying marketing.

Frank Van Buren is the Managing Director and Founder of Van Buren Advisory LLC (“VBA”), based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He founded the firm in October 2024 upon his retirement from Wells Fargo, where he was a team member for 26+ years and held roles in Investment Banking, Sales & Trading and Talent Development Leadership for the Corporate & Investment Banking business. At the enterprise level, Frank was recognized for excellence as a recipient of the Golden Spoke (2016) and Champion’s Spotlight (2023) awards.

Preceding his retirement, Frank was most recently Managing Director and (Talent) Development Office Leader for the Corporate & Investment Banking business, where he oversaw the strategic initiatives and execution for all efforts related to the recruiting,staffing, coaching, training, development, pay, reviews, wellness and retention of the 750+ emerging talent bankers.

From 2019 to 2023, he held the position of Development Officer for the Global Mergers & Acquisitions and Regional Investment Banking businesses, responsible for directly managing and developing the 100+ VPs, Associates, and Analysts across the two Investment Banking groups.

Previously, Frank spent 16 years on the trading floor as a senior salesperson on the High Yield Sales & Trading team. Prior to joining the trading floor in August 2003, he spent 5+ years in the Investment Banking Division as an Associate and VP.

From 1996 to 1998, Frank attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he earned an MBA at the Kenan-Flagler Business School as a Consortium for Graduate Study in Management Fellow.

Prior to business school in 1996, he served six years in the U.S. Army as a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter pilot flying nation building, drug interdiction, air cavalry, and MEDEVAC missions in Central America, Germany, and the Middle East. These experiences are shared in his published book Life Lessons from The Cockpit, available online at Amazon.

Frank holds a B.A. degree from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, 1988 and played intercollegiate football and earned

All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference honors and held five school records.

Frank is a strong veterans advocate, deeply involved in community and transition initiatives, most prominently on the Board of Directors for the Veterans Bridge Home. Additionally, he serves on the Shippensburg University College of Business and the University of North Carolina Charlotte Graduate School Advisory Boards.