DURHAM – Retired Sergeant First Class Jessica Harris didn’t retire from the army thinking she’d start a dog treat business.

But that’s exactly what she did.

She got the idea back in 2016 after eight police canines were killed in the line of duty across the country in January. By year-end, that figured had jumped to 35.

“I wanted to find a way to do something to tell the stories of the dogs, honor them and give back to that community,” she recalled.

So she started up K9 Salute, the award-winning all-natural dog treat company that honors fallen K9s.

K9 Salute founder Jessica Harris.

On Wednesday she told her story as one of the panelists at Bunker Brews, a monthly meet-up where the Bunker Labs community — veterans, military spouses and civilians alike – get to network with “investors, thought leaders, and more.”

Against the backdrop of The Loading Dock in Raleigh, Harris joined retired Navy veteran and founder of Murphy’s Naturals, Philip Freeman, discussing what challenges they had to overcome to get their product to the shelves.

Transitioning to civilian life

Back in 2014, Harris moved to Durham from Washington State, shortly after retiring from the Army National Guard where she served as a medic for 20 years.

She got a director-level job at UNC Hospital and around the same time, started thinking about starting her own business. She began networking with people through Bunker Labs,  a national network of veteran entrepreneurs dedicated to helping new veteran entrepreneurs start their own business.

Ten months later, she was laid off and unemployed — for almost 15 months.

“Not having any family out here, and the bulk of my friends in the northwest, they really have been kind of that anchor that I needed to stay here, to keep pushing forward,” said Harris, who now serves as Bunker Labs city leader.

Shaken by the news of rising K9 fatalities, she came up with the idea of selling dog treats. On the back of every bag, she decided to make a tribute to a fallen police canine. In return, she’d donate a portion of sales to various canine units to help purchase protective vests for police dogs.

A few months later, she entered a local business competition run by the Carolina Small Business Development Fund and won a $50,000 business loan to start her business.

“It wasn’t the business idea I was working on, but it kind of transitioned into that. Bunkers Labs has helped me, really from the beginning to get things going.”

In 2018, K9 Salute’s Jessica Harris (second from right) was named an American Small Business Champion by SCORE and Sam’s Club.

Since then, it’s gone from strength to strength. In 2018, K9 Salute was named an American Small Business Champion by SCORE and Sam’s Club. Harris also received the Bob Evans Farms Heroes to CEO’s contest, winning a $25,000 grant and a mentoring session with Daymond John.

For now, K9 Salute is mostly sold online with a view to expand into more retail soon. “We’re still going in the right direction,” she said.