~ Over 26,000 veterans hired through V3 Program ~
Governor Terry McAuliffe recently recognized businesses for their ongoing commitment to creating employment opportunities for Virginia’s military veterans at the 2017 Virginia Workforce Conference, hosted by the Virginia Chamber Foundation. More than 700 businesses, state and local government agencies, and educational institutions, certified under the Virginia Values Veterans (V3) Program, have hired 26,852 veterans since the program’s inception in 2012.
“Virginia is home to one of the largest veteran populations and boasts more veterans per capita in our labor force than in any other state in America,” said Governor McAuliffe. “We each have the responsibility to serve these veterans just as they have served us, and I’m proud that we’ve been able to do that effectively through the Virginia Values Veterans program. This is a true public-private partnership that has a proven track record in encouraging companies to hire and retain skilled veteran leaders in our civilian workforce. By continuing our focus on creating economic opportunities for veterans and their families, we will remain the best state in the nation for veterans and their families.”
Virginia was the first state to create an official program dedicated to improving the employment of veterans by training employees on the best practices to recruit, hire, train and retain veterans. In August 2014, Governor McAuliffe challenged the V3 Program to hire 10,000 veterans in four years. V3 reached this goal 900 days ahead of schedule. The Governor set a new goal of 20,000 hires by 2018, which was met 400 days ahead of schedule in November 2016. In February 2017, he set a new goal of 25,000 hires, which was once again reached ahead of schedule in July 2017. The current goal is set at 30,000 veteran hires by January 2018.
“It is fitting that the theme of this year’s conference is ‘Veterans: Closing the Workforce Gap,’” said John L. Newby II, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services. “This event brought together hundreds of leading employers, educators, human resource managers, veterans groups and policymakers from throughout the Commonwealth to explore opportunities and share best practices to fill workforce demands with one of our greatest resources – our highly skilled military veterans. We are honored that Governor McAuliffe has joined us here to personally recognize many of our V3 partner companies with awards and we look forward to recognizing additional V3 certified companies in the years to come.”
-Submitted by Press Assistant Charlotte Gomer
