Tag Archives: hiring our heroes

Military Vets Transition to Life Back Home with Help of Corporate Initiatives

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A recent franchise industry study conducted by the International Franchise Association shows that 1 out of 7 businesses in the franchise industry are currently veteran-owned. This statistic offers positive feedback as opposed to the 2012 statistic that 9.9% of Iraq veterans were at the time unemployed. Since then, many large manufacturing companies have begun offering veteran incentives and outreach programs to help transition recent vets back into a job that matches the skills they learned in the military. Alcoa, Boeing, and General Electric all offer veteran initiatives, and have joined forces to employ over 15,000 military vets. All three have implemented programs to help vets transition from life oversees into a manufacturing career here in the States.

“We believe this initiative could have a major impact on the hiring of veterans nationwide,” Says Rick Stephens, a Boeing senior vice president. “It’s a proven approach for matching the skills of those who have served our country to the hiring needs of American businesses.” Their program, known as ‘Get Skills to Work,’ is comprised of three major concepts. It offers accelerated skills training for vets whose military experience does not immediately translate to their work in a manufacturing career. The program also aids in matching the right vet to where his existing skill set might be most effective, while also taking into account his or her personality traits and work habits, to find the best employment match. Finally, the program raises awareness to current employers wanting to hire veterans, and helps them find the best match for what they’re looking for in a future employee.

“Veterans offer the technical, leadership and critical thinking skills that advanced manufacturing demands,” said Paula Davis, president of the Alcoa Foundation. “Forming the Get Skills to Work coalition and coordinating with nonprofits to train, recruit and develop veterans is an exciting model that has the potential to change lives.”

Through the Manufacturing Institute’s Right Skills Now program, training sites for veterans will open across the U.S. in 2013. We can only expect that similar programs will continue to appear as more and more veterans begin to return home and begin life in the US workforce.

VetFran and Hiring our Heroes

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The International Franchise Association’s VetFran initiative has strengthened its partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring our Heroes program thanks to a newly forged relationship with Capital One Financial Corporation.

 

The partnership is part of the IFA’s Operation Enduring Opportunity, a campaign to hire 75,000 veterans and military spouses and 5,000 wounded warriors by the end of 2014. New hires may be recruited as franchisees or as team members.

 

As part of the partnership, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Capital One made a sizable, $80,000 contribution to the International Franchise Association.

 

VetFran had an opportunity to exhibit this past Friday at the Capital One sponsored Job Fair for Veterans and Military Spouses in Washington, D.C.

 

For more information on Hiring our Heroes, please follow this link.