A Syracuse University program aimed at supporting veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs recently announced its new cohort, which includes Rudy Cazares, who went from serving in the Marines to running his own logistics company based in Pelham Bay. In just five years, Cazares’ company has become a top contractor with Amazon, surpassing three million deliveries and employing 180 local people.
To date, CEOcircle, an initiative at the Syracuse University D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families and backed by JPMorganChase, has helped over 170 business owners in tech, manufacturing, health care and other fields navigate today’s challenges while sharing resources and connections.
Cazares said the “lead from the front” mindset and teambuilding skills he learned in the Marines helped him seize the opportunity for entrepreneurship and dedicate himself to the 24/7, around-the-clock work of the shipping industry. “Some things just kinda came naturally from my time in the military,” he said.
His service began in 2000, when Cazares was a 19-year-old student at Baruch College. He enlisted in the Marine Reserves and was deployed to Iraq in the wake of 9/11. He finished his degree but decided to make a career of military service.
“I fell in love with what the Marine Corps stood for,” he said.
Cazares later served three combat tours in Iraq, along with tours in Africa and Asia. When he left active duty, “I had no idea what I was going to do, except I was going to get into business,” he said.
Cazares learned of an Amazon pilot program for former servicemembers to join logistics operations, and he realized he might be great at leading a team in that field, as he had in the Marines. He said the qualities that helped him succeed in military life — “grind, grit, perseverance, my ability to think on my feet” — translated to both the people management side and technical side of the shipping industry.
He started his company with just five vehicles and eight drivers. Five years later, he now has close to 90 vehicles and 170 employees, including his own brother and two cousins, who left the restaurant industry to come on board in logistics.
“They went from being servers to now they’re running 80-person teams,” said Cazares.
Entrepreneurship can be isolating, and Cazares said he is grateful for the new opportunity to be in fellowship with others with businesses of similar size and stage. CEOcircle provides one-on-one mentorship and financial education for mid-sized businesses like Cazar Logistics LLC that impact their local communities, said Alex McKindra, a former Air Force Captain who co-heads veteran’s initiatives as a managing director within the Global Corporate Banking Group at JPMorganChase.
McKindra’s own ancestors benefitted from a post-Civil War program to help Black Americans buy land and build community resources — so working with CEOcircle is a “full circle moment,” he said.
“I know how important it is to have a community that supports you,” said McKindra.
He said vets are great to invest in because they often pay it forward to their local communities — and their business ventures tend to succeed. Businesses owned by former servicemembers employ about 3.3 million people and generate $1 trillion in annual revenue, he said.
“Vets have many superpowers,” said McKindra.
Cazares said CEOcircle has already been instrumental in helping him expand the business from its 2019 roots in a now-shuttered Hunts Point warehouse. Networking both online and in person has helped him learn from what others have gone through and “shorten the learning curve,” said Cazares.
“When you’re an entrepreneur, it’s a very lonely role,” he said, but being around others with similar experiences, “You’re like a duck in water after you meet some of these people.”
To date, Cazar Logistics LLC has delivered over 3 million packages to the Bronx and Queens, and Cazares just learned that he is one of Amazon’s top local contractors.
His company is hard at work not only delivering Amazon finds but also bringing meals to military families throughout Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island — and he’s looking to add the Bronx next year. Cazar Logistics has delivered well over 30,000 meals to military vets and families since last summer, through a partnership between the meal kit company Hello Fresh, the city Department of Veterans’ Services and Amazon. Next week, Cazares’ team will start delivering Thanksgiving turkeys and other holiday favorites.
“I’m humbled at what I’ve been able to achieve,” said Cazares.
This story was updated on Nov. 12 at 10:45 a.m. to clarify that Cazares did not serve in Syria but in Iraq near the border with Syria. It was also updated on Nov. 13 at 9:15 a.m. to clarify McKindra’s title.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
