A Career Path for Veterans in the Data Center Industry

Lee Kirby, Cofounder and Chairman of Salute Mission Critical, wanted to use his 36 years of military experience to help veterans and their families. Drawing upon 30 years of information systems, strategic business development, planning and human resource experience in private and public sectors, Kirby began Salute Mission Critical.

Salute’s mission is to provide military veterans and their spouses with a career path into the data center industry. Kirby sat down with Raymond Hawkins to discuss his passion for giving back to a community that meant so much to him.

“We always had the mantra: it’s people, process and technologies,” Kirby said. “So, we knocked it out of the park by tapping into the veteran community. If you look at a data center site, people will often outsource to at least three different vendors; one for security, one for critical environment and one for the IT environment. You can staff them with far fewer people if you can combine them into one solution.”
And that total solution is what Salute provides.

Salute’s capabilities extend beyond the U.S. for those veterans living in other areas of the world. “We’re operating in nine countries,” Kirby said. “Within six months, we will probably be 11 or 12 countries under our belt. In all these countries, we look to recruit veterans to bring them in. Outside of the U.S., we’re probably about 50% veterans.”

And Salute’s program extends to military spouses, not only veterans. “We proved that this model worked and that we could train civilians,” Kirby said. “There’s no reason why we couldn’t also train that hidden gem of the military, and that’s the spouse. We wanted to provide a platform if you’re a spouse, and you’re working with us in California; if your spouse gets transferred to North Carolina, we’ve got opportunities across the US. We can keep that person employed and growing through our ranks.”

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

mentorship
WAVIT’s Mentorship Program: Cyndie Nelson on Building Careers Through Guidance
July 19, 2025

The AV industry, like many others in tech, often thrives on innovation—but it’s mentorship that sustains it. Behind every successful professional is often a mentor who provided guidance, shared hard-earned lessons, and opened doors that might have otherwise stayed shut. Programs like WAVIT (Women in AV/IT) bring this spirit of mentorship into focus by intentionally…

Read More
mentorship
Empowering Innovation: Kim Porter’s Role in the WAVIT Mentorship Program
July 19, 2025

In an industry where innovation often hinges on experience, mentorship is the bridge that connects the wisdom of the past with the promise of the future. Engineering, especially in the mechanical domain, is traditionally seen as a discipline of precision, but its culture is just as vital as its calculations. That’s why programs like WAVIT’s…

Read More
mentorship
Passion, Power, and the Mentorship Paradigm Shift in Tech
July 19, 2025

In today’s rapidly evolving tech world, mentorship has emerged as more than a professional development tool—it’s a powerful human connection that fosters resilience, purpose, and authenticity. Particularly for women in engineering and STEM, mentorship isn’t just about career guidance; it’s a lifeline to navigating environments where their voices may still fight to be heard. While…

Read More
AV
Lessons in Leadership: Mitek’s Cyndie Nelson on the Power of Mentoring Women in AV Technology
July 19, 2025

Mentorship has long been considered a cornerstone of professional development, but in the fast-evolving world of AV technology and sales, its value has never been more evident. The unspoken nuances of tradecraft—those bits of wisdom not found in textbooks—are often only accessible through the lived experience of mentors. Particularly for women in traditionally male-dominated industries,…

Read More