Military veteran Dawson returns home, finds satisfying work at MPW Industrial Services
UNION TOWNSHIP – He’s a long-time military veteran who came home to find a career he never expected.
"I remember wanting to be a Marine and then a soldier in the Army," Matt Dawson recalled. "But I was also interested in teaching and architecture. In a way, I did dream of doing what I’m doing now. Practically, however, no, I didn’t plan to work in the disciplines of safety or training."
Today, Dawson is director of safety and training for MPW Industrial Services, located on Ohio 37, just south of U.S. 40 in Union Township. Companies all over the United States and Canada hire MPW to clean and maintain their buildings and purify their water, among other things.
"I serve and support the department’s leaders and our teammates in their roles, help with department problem-solving and planning, and serve the needs of our company and business group leaders and coworkers," Dawson explained, "Teaching and training are born of the same parents, so the training role has a direct link to my childhood interest in being a teacher."
Dawson, who celebrates his 60th birthday Monday, grew up in Newark and graduated from Newark High School in 1981. He then graduated from Ohio State in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in secondary education and social studies, and graduated from Florida State University with master’s and doctorate degrees in history. He also earned a master’s in national security and strategic studies from the United States Naval War College in 2008.
“After high school came the Ohio Army National Guard,” he said. “Following basic and advanced individual training, the Newark Armory and the 211th Maintenance Company were ‘home.’ After a couple years, I decided to join the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps at Ohio State. After graduating college in 1986 and commissioning as a second lieutenant, the U.S. Army Field Artillery was my new professional home.”
After Officer Basic, Airborne, and Ranger training, Dawson moved to several states and to Germany, South Korea, and a deployment to Afghanistan. His work included assignments in the field, as U.S. Military Academy faculty, and with The Joint Staff (Pentagon), culminating as director of both the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center and Center for Strategic Leadership, U.S. Army War College.
Finally, after more than 30 years, he and his wife thought it was time to bring their family back home to Ohio.
“So we needed a rewarding and fulfilling job,” recalled the now-retired Col. Dawson. “Surprisingly, we didn’t know MPW-Porta Kleen was in our backyard. But a job fair at Ohio State solved that problem. Fortunately for us, they needed a training and development manager. Starting in March of 2016, they took a chance on a veteran with no business experience.”
Jared Black, president of MPW Industrial Services praised Dawson's work.
"Since joining MPW in 2016, Matt has been instrumental in elevating our safety training programs," Black said. "Safety is a core value of MPW, so Matt’s role is critical to our success.”
Dawson said the military taught him lessons he could use throughout his life.
“The military is all about training,” Dawson said. “At 18 years-old, I saw first-hand how tough, caring leaders turned a group of strangers in basic training into a team. The other notable example for me was the training example set by the U.S. Army’s Ranger School staff. They made an impact."
Graduate school and teaching at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, added more critical lessons, he said
"I took what and how they taught me and tried to apply it to my professional and personal life," Dawson said.
Coming home and finding a job at MPW has been very rewarding and satisfying, he said.
“We got a chance to come back to the Heart of it All,” he concluded. “You can go home again – and we found a professional family at MPW-Porta Kleen that made our transition from military service easy, rewarding, and fun.”
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at advocate@newarkadvocate.com or 740-328-8821.
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MPW Industrial Services is located at 9711 Lancaster Road SE in Hebron. For more information call 740-927-8790 or log on www.mpwservices.com.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Military veteran Dawson returns home, finds satisfying work at MPW
