Clinton Smith hires veterans because he knows military service has helped them become dedicated and hard-working staffers.

"When you say, 'I need you to do this right now,' they get it done and get it done well," says Smith, a former Marine who is CEO of Government & Civil Employee Services, a financial planning company in the western Pennsylvania borough of Indiana.

Smith also finds that veterans are ideal for his company, whose clients are mostly federal workers; anyone who's been in the service has spent years understanding and navigating government-supplied benefits.

"The military experience in these individuals truly comes back in positive ways throughout the rest of their adult lives," says Smith, who with his partner Galen Bargerstock has six employees, three of them veterans.