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David Linhart visits with fellow Southwest Veterans Chamber of Commerce board member Armand Smith during a recent board meeting. One of the key goals of the organation is to provide a resource to local veterans seeking to enter the business community.
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“And my dad, who's a Navy veteran, he just said, ‘You need to use your GI Bill,’” he recalled. “He's like, ‘What are you doing?’” That push mattered. “Getting out of the Army as an infantry soldier, you are like, ‘What do I have as far as a marketable skill?,’” Linhart said. “I was trained to kill people. Yeah, legitimately that was my job: to kill people. Right. So, my dad told me to use the GI Bill and I did.” His college counselor encouraged him, telling him his military service qualified him to be a better learner and saying, “You can take direction,” and “You've got credits already from your military time.” “And I said, ‘I do?’” Linhart recounted. “So, it was kind of an awakening for me.” He earned an associate’s degree, then completed a bachelor’s degree in global business and management at Arizona State University West Campus. “But it allowed me again to get something done with my life. So that whole year of sitting there and doing nothing, if my dad wouldn't have pointed me in the right direction, I might not have done it. “So that's the direction I want to help any veteran that needs it,” he concluded.
relationships with providers offering hyperbaric therapy, equine therapy, counseling and job
to 10th in the nation for veteran suicide. “It’s not a marked improvement,” Linhart said. “But that’s a 5% improvement. Whereas other states went in the other direction and took over our spot. So, we are making a difference.” Not every veteran wants help. Linhart says that during his first term as president, he approached homeless veterans with snacks and water and asked to talk. Some declined. Others insisted they were fine on their own, saying they liked having no one telling them what to do. “Those guys, what can we do?” Linhart said. “We're a chamber of commerce, right? So, it's business — but to help veterans.”
BEYOND THE BUSINESSES
assistance — resources many veterans may not realize are available to them.
The Southwest Veterans Chamber of Commerce’s mission extends beyond entrepreneurship. Its nonprofit foundation focuses on preventing veteran suicide and connecting former service members with support services across Arizona.
Linhart said a veteran in Graham County struggling with PTSD, for example, might benefit from being connected to the Deep Sea Valkyries, a group that organizes scuba diving experiences to help veterans calm their minds. Making those kinds of connections, he said, is what motivates him. He noted Arizona has moved from sixth
President David Linhart
said the chamber works with a wide network of nonprofits, and that its core nonprofit arm is centered on suicide prevention. He said that is the foundation’s primary driver right now. The chamber maintains
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InBuckeye.com | March/April 2026
March/April 2026 | InBuckeye.com
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