Like other American veterans, Air Force Master Sgt. Darrel Ferdinand needed a plan for his life after war. And one sector of the economy offered an answer — starting his own business.
He hopes to make that happen within the next six months when he opens a UPS Store near his home in New Orleans East, an area struggling to attract businesses seven years after Katrina.
“I’m trying to get the future right,†says the 47-year-old Ferdinand.
Finding employment has been a struggle for many of these newest war veterans.
An estimated 218,000 Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans were jobless the second quarter of this year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan stood at 10.4% in the second quarter. More.