Call-ups troublesome for self-employed reservists

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Second Lt. Charles Neumann knows he'll lose his $50,000-a-year mental-health practice if he's deployed to Iraq, but he also worries about the future of the ice cream franchise he and his wife run in Kapolei.

Unlike troops who work for the Honolulu Police Department, Verizon Hawai'i, Hawaiian Airlines, the state Department of Education and other private and government employers, soldiers such as Neumann are staring at a potentially devastating economic hit by serving their country at a time of war.

"I know I won't have my clients when I get back. I can't put them on hold for two years," Neumann said. "And I don't know what's going to happen to our other business."

Neumann and other independent business owners represent the most dramatic economic sacrifices that will be made by 2,000 Hawai'i Army National Guard soldiers in the upcoming months.

Even citizen-soldiers who may not go overseas have begun feeling the pinch on their independent businesses.

Sgt. Christopher Clark has begun the process of shutting down the Island Lead Sinkers company in Kane'ohe that he and his wife, Kimi, bought just last August.

Clark and other Army Reserve members of the 1101st Garrison Support Unit were activated in January to replace troops at Schofield Barracks, causing Clark to pass on nearly $50,000 worth of orders he was unable to fill through his lead-sinker manufacturing company.

"I have to close down and have been sending letters to all of my accounts," Clark said. "I've been trying my hardest to keep it running, but there's no time at all. A lot of my accounts have been understanding, but it's still business."

Neumann and his wife, Michelle, first realized their family income would change drastically when he attended officer school in Texas earlier this year for three months.

Michelle, an Aloha Airlines flight attendant, serves double time at their Bubbie's Homemade Ice Cream & Desserts franchise and struggled to find childcare for their 2-year-old daughter, Kyla, while Charles was in Texas.

"A lot of times I have to fly to the Mainland and it's really hard to juggle my daughter and the shop and my job," Michelle said. "We know we have to start planning, but if I allow myself to think about it, it overwhelms me, and I break down."

Fall through cracks

The latest call-up for Hawai'i Army National Guard soldiers affects businesses and organizations all around the Islands.

Employers are still scrambling to identify how many of their workers serve in the Guard or Army Reserve — and how they will cover the loss of staffing to war.

"We don't know yet how many of our employees are anticipated to be deployed due to the recent call-up of the 2,000 Guardsmen," said HECO spokesman Jose Dizon, reflecting the views of other companies and government employers. "We support their roles in the Guard and Reserves, there's no question about that. We'll do obviously the best we can over here until they return."

The federal Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act ensures that Guard and Reserve troops get equivalent jobs when they return to work, as well as seniority and promotion opportunities.

The Hawai'i Committee for Employers Support of the Guard and Reserve steps in as a mediator when disputes arise between employers and employees. The group's executive director, Lt. Col. Ann Greenlee, doesn't expect many problems with the latest round of call-ups.

Most of the questions will pop up when Guard soldiers begin returning to Hawai'i about 18 months after they deploy, Greenlee said.

"As they head out, employers know they have to release them," Greenlee said. "But once they come back, some reservist might say that while he was deployed a promotion came open and he wasn't selected, but the guy in the next cubicle got it."

More problems could arise if Hawai'i's economy takes a nosedive while the Guard soldiers are away and their companies impose layoffs that affect them, Greenlee said.

"If the economy's doing well, it's not nearly the issue it could be if they're downsizing," she said. "So we have to hope for a strong economy."

But none of the job guarantees provided by the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act help small-business owners struggling to keep their own operations running.

Backup plan needed

So Howard Sugai, spokesman for the support committee, urges Guard and Reserve soldiers to prepare contingency plans.

One Maui soldier who runs a contracting business asked Sugai, "Who's going to take care of my business while I'm away?" Sugai said.

"My reply to him was, 'What would happen to your business if you suddenly fell ill or were driving to work and you got into a catastrophic car accident? How would your business survive if all of a sudden you weren't here, not because you were mobilized and sent away, but because you weren't here to operate your own business?' Everybody who owns their own business should have a backup management plan in any case."

Dr. Norman Chun has been scrambling to develop his own backup plan without any luck.

Chun serves as a dentist with the 29th Support Battalion — part of the Hawai'i Army National Guard's 29th Separate Infantry Brigade headed for Iraq — and needs to find another dentist to take over his pediatric patients.

Chun and his two brothers, Mark and Mitchell, run practices in Kailua and Waimanalo founded by their father.

The brothers are general practitioners and can handle the basic cases, but neither specializes in pediatrics.

And Mark is serving with the National Guard in Baghdad.

"I'm desperately trying to find somebody to cover me for at least one or two days a week and keep my patients happy," Norman said.

"I'm mainly worried about making sure my patients are looked after, not about losing my practice."

Army Reserve Sgt. Fetu Sua also has struggled to maintain his security and landscaping businesses in Kailua now that he spends almost all of his time at Schofield Barracks.

Sua used to bring in new accounts and handle the books for his company, N.A.S. Services, but has since had to hire a manager and bookkeeping service.

Sua also lost one account and had to turn down two more because he didn't think he could serve them up to his standards.

Since he has been activated, Sua estimates he has lost 20 percent of his business while paying 10 percent to 15 percent more in extra salaries and expenses.

"I'm taking a beating," Sua said. "But when I joined up, I raised my hand to heaven and said I would do my part as an American soldier."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8085.