California - Home to About 239,000 Veteran-Owned Businesses

Christian Knierim managed teams of employees and million-dollar programs as an Air Force intelligence officer in Iraq, but he could not find a job that suited him when he left the military and returned to a recession.

He wanted to work for a nonprofit organization, but jobs were scarce and Bay Area employers told him he needed more direct experience in nonprofits -- the Air Force didn't count.

So he did what tens of thousands of veterans have done in California: He employed himself.

California is home to about 239,000 veteran-owned businesses, more than any other state, and about 36,000 of them are in the Bay Area, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Tuesday, the first time such data have ever been available.

Like other businesses, many will fail. Some will thrive. Most have no paid employees.

But for many veterans, being one's own boss can offer a path to self-reliance that can be hard to find in the civilian workforce.

"I started this business out of necessity. I had to survive," Knierim said.

Two years ago, the 34-year-old opened a workshop to refurbish battery backup systems in San Francisco.

Wedged between a nightclub and a tattoo parlor in the South of Market district, Knierim's firm has one paid worker -- himself -- but is growing, he said.

"I'm the sales guy," he said. "I'm also the webmaster, the technician. I'm the shipping clerk. I'm the one who packs them up, who prepares them for shipping."

Veterans own 4,900 businesses in San Francisco, 3,300 in San Jose and 2,400 in Oakland, according to the newly released statistics.

Veterans represent a little less than 10 percent of the total civilian workforce in the United States and own about 9 percent of the country's businesses, said Thomas Mesenbourg, deputy director of the Census Bureau. They are about as likely to own a business as any other segment of the population.

Veterans, however, are somewhat more likely than other business owners to own a construction firm or one that supplies professional, scientific or technical services, according to the statistics, which were collected during a nationwide survey in 2007 and released this week.

Removing land mines from the war-torn Balkans is a world away from helping build a new span of the Bay Bridge, but Army veteran Patrick Lowry is one of the success stories among the Bay Area's military veteran entrepreneurs.

"We did de-mining -- taking mines out of the ground," Lowry said of his service in Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania. "Building bridges, building roads, blowing things up."

In 2008, Lowry and a partner opened an Emeryville-based consulting company that inspects welding and steel for the new Bay Bridge. A firm that started with two people two years ago now has 70 employees and is working on one of the state's most important projects.

"The leadership skills from the military translate perfectly," said Lowry, who was a captain when he left the service. "Whether you're motivating people when they're tired and wet and hungry or you're motivating people when there's tough economic times like there is today, there are parallels."

Lowry had a smooth transition into civilian work, but his engineering background makes him unique. Many veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan have intense combat experience but few skills that transfer to the civilian world, he said.

"A guy at 22, 23 years old, it's tough. You've got that motivation, that drive. But there's a lot of competition for even entry-level jobs right now," he said.

The federal government has pumped resources, especially in the past decade, into helping veterans set up businesses and succeed. Some cover some expenses, some cover contract preferences. Since 1989, California has had the goal of awarding 3 percent of all state contracts to disabled veterans.

The programs all assume that many veterans tackle a mountain of challenges in adjusting to civilian life.

Starting a business can be a lifeline for unemployed veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome, said Rich Dryden of the California Disabled Veteran Business Alliance.

"Sometimes it may be easier for them to work for themselves," he said. "There's lots of good reasoning for those who have a business acumen to open a business rather than work with someone else."