((L-R) Christopher Looney, James Maxwell and Jordan Inman | Photo by Noah Nelson)
Jordan and James met when they joined the Marine Corps at the same time and became officers. James eventually transitioned over to the Navy, while Jordan stayed with the Marines. When they both got out and faced the reality that all veterans must face, they decided upon opening a business together.
“One of the challenges you have as a veteran is the transition from the military back to the civilian world,” said Jordan. “We both understood that well. We figured jumping into your average corporate environment wouldn’t be a good fit. We wanted to be the masters of our own destiny and we both shared a passion and strength in small unit leadership.”
This inspired them to look into buying a small business to get themselves into the mix. James said, “we bought our first small business about four years ago. We didn’t know what that would bring or what exactly the future would look like but we knew that was our stepping stone.”
Tribe Equity Partners is a veteran-owned private equity firm that was founded on unique principles and a guiding philosophy that puts people and community above all. Their main specialization lies in giving retiring business owners the opportunity to pass their business along to trained and trusted hands. The priority is not to flip any business for immediate profit but instead to foster success, growth and opportunities for veterans to reenter the civilian world.
Among the businesses they have bought, they have either maintained their employees or grown their number, provided raises to team members and promoted from within. The priority is to support people and watch them succeed.
This aspect is a founding principle of the organization. The two founding partners of Tribe are military veterans with more than 25 years of service between them. Their team has taken away many lessons from their time in the military; lessons that can be very useful in the world of business.
The philosophy at Tribe is head-on, tenacious and unafraid to face challenges. The team is action-oriented and motivated to take the leap required to realize their goals and aspirations. They plan for the future but stay adaptable, ready to adjust at a moment’s notice.
An important aspect of Tribe involves their criteria for selecting businesses to buy. Aside from providing retiring leaders the chance to pass the reins, they also remain conscious of their impact on the community, focusing on businesses that they believe provide a positive impact.
“One of our goals is to support businesses that keep our economy and our community moving,” said Jordan. “We look for businesses that are local, established and well-built with clean books. Our sellers should care about the legacy they have built, and ideally, we’re looking for businesses with long-tenured management and team members.”
One way that Tribe supports the community is by offering an internship program to veterans to help them transition their military skills into small business skills.
“What we do is facilitate a journey down a path that took us years to get through,” said James. “We bring folks who are coming fresh out of the military and we give them an opportunity to dive into small business operations and acquisitions. At the end of the program, we do a capstone project where they go through an entire acquisition cycle and provide our interns the chance to pitch to real investors. It’s an excellent culmination of one’s skills and helps prove to many veterans that they can succeed outside of the military.”
The Tribe team remarked on the transformations they have seen and the success stories they have helped write. Whether a former intern wants to stay and work with the team or move on to their own venture, Tribe is happy to support their endeavors.
“These interns, depending on fit, can get placed in our portfolio companies or here at Tribe,” said James. “Some want to go off and do their own thing, purchasing small businesses or even starting their own and we’re in a position where we can financially support them. Imitation is the best form of flattery and if some of our past interns want to start their own Tribe somewhere else, we are happy to be a part of that.”
A major part of the journey back into the civilian world involves a veteran adjusting their skills and mindset to a new host of tasks, teams and challenges. “In the military, we were taught a very specific set of skills that could only be applied to very specific situations,” said Chris, Tribe’s operations associate. “Working at Tribe helped me open up my aperture and realize I know more than I think I know.”
Tribe is not just supporting the community through supporting essential local businesses, they are also helping veterans realize their potential for success in the business world. They provide Central Oregon with hard-working leaders who bring a unique skillset and mindset to the table.
