U.S. Chamber and RecruitMilitary to Present Veteran Job Expo in Phoenix Area on October 18

Sept. 13, 2012 - PRLog -- Cincinnati, OH – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the military-to-civilian recruitment firm RecruitMilitary will collaborate on a hiring event for military veterans at University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals, in Glendale on Thursday, October 18. The event will take place from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. RecruitMilitary is inviting veterans who already have civilian work experience, men and women who are transitioning from active duty to civilian life, members of the National Guard and reserves, military spouses, and other military family members.  

This event, a Hiring Our Heroes/RecruitMilitary Veteran Opportunity Expo, will be part of a nationwide initiative to increase the hiring of veterans and military spouses by producing special career fair hiring events. The U.S. Chamber launched the Hiring Our Heroes initiative in March 2011. In the first 11 months of the initiative, Hiring Our Heroes hosted more than 100 events in 45 states and the District of Columbia. The Chamber plans 400 events in 2012.

RecruitMilitary and the Chamber expect more than 45 employers, franchisors, educational institutions, and government agencies to reserve exhibitor booths at the Expo in Glendale. Already signed up are The Home Depot, the National Veterans Employment Program (NVEP) of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, DeVry University, Grand Canyon University, Thunderbird School of Global Management, C.R. England Inc., Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club, Lowe’s, Accolo, Starwood Vacation Ownership, Alcoa Inc., Coca-Cola Refreshments, United States Customs and Border Protection, Bechtel Corporation, G4S Secure Solutions (USA), Plane Techs, Argosy University, Union Institute and University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Bank of America, Keller Electrical Industries Inc., USAA, Liberty Mutual, Kaplan College, Verizon Communications, Express Scripts Inc., National Oilwell Varco, AutoNation, The Prudential Insurance Company of America, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, Northern California College of Construction, Veterans Business Outreach Center, and Brown Mackie College.

To maximize the number of employers participating in this event as well as the job opportunities for veterans and military spouses, RecruitMilitary is offering companies that are members of the U.S. Chamber and local chambers a 10% discount on the cost of their exhibition booths. RecruitMilitary will offer further price reductions for small businesses (businesses that have less than 50 employees), and even lower rates for veteran-owned small businesses.

“This is an especially great year to hire veterans – new tax credits for doing so apply throughout the year,” said Larry Slagel, Senior Vice President of Sales at RecruitMilitary and a former captain in the United States Marine Corps. “The credits are available via the Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 (www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/opptax/), which President Obama signed into law on November 21, 2011. The credits range from $2,400 to $9,600, depending on whether the veteran has a disability and how long he or she has been unemployed – and they apply to individuals who begin to work for an employer from November 22, 2011, through December 31, 2012.”

The Vow to Hire Heroes Act also established a new target group of unemployed veterans. This group is similar to a group defined in the Recovery Act of 2009, which has expired. One major difference is that, under the Recovery Act, a veteran had to have left the service within 5 years of the hiring date to qualify. The Vow to Hire Heroes Act imposes no such limit.

“That is outstanding news for employers,” said Slagel. “Employers can now get credit for hiring highly skilled veterans who have many years of civilian work experience. Veterans like that are heavily represented at our Expos and in our database of job candidates at http://www.recruitmilitary.com. We have more than 500,000 men and women with military backgrounds in the database, and we add roughly 300 per day.”

RecruitMilitary will produce the Expo in Glendale in cooperation with The American Legion (www.legion.org), an association of veterans who served during times of war. The Legion has 2.4 million members in nearly 14,000 posts throughout the world. Congress chartered the association in 1919.

RecruitMilitary has already extended its schedule of events through June 2013: Atlanta (October 25, 2012; February 28, 2013; June 27, 2013), Baltimore (May 2, 2013), Boston (April 11, 2013), Charlotte (November 15, 2012; June 6, 2013), Chicago (April 25, 2013), Cincinnati (May 16, 2013), Dallas (November 15, 2012; March 7, 2013), Denver (April 18, 2013), Houston (December 6, 2012; April 4, 2013), Jacksonville (November 1, 2012; June 13, 2013), Las Vegas (November 29, 2012), Los Angeles (June 20, 2013), Louisville (March 14, 2013), Nashville (January 24, 2013), New Orleans (February 21, 2013), New York (May 23, 2013), Norfolk (May 9, 2013), Oakland (November 29, 2012; May 30, 2013), Oklahoma City (January 31, 2013), Philadelphia (March 14, 2013), Phoenix (March 28, 2013), Raleigh (March 21, 2013), San Antonio (February 14, 2013), San Diego (December 13, 2012; March 28, 2013), Seattle (November 8, 2012; June 6, 2013), Tampa (January 17, 2013), Virginia Beach (November 8, 2012), and Washington (February 28, 2013; June 27, 2013).

RecruitMilitary has produced Opportunity Expos since 2006. The company also offers subscriptions (search licenses) to its database of registered candidates, retained hiring services, and advertising space in online and print media. RecruitMilitary distributes more than 38,000 copies of each issue of Search & Employ®, a bimonthly print magazine, to over 220 military bases throughout the world, National Guard and reserve units, and job seekers who attend Hiring Our Heroes/RecruitMilitary Veteran Opportunity Expos.

In November 2011, RecruitMilitary received the First Annual Lee Anderson Small Business Veteran and Military Spouse Employment Award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber recognized RecruitMilitary as a specific business that has “gone above and beyond to honor the sacrifices our military families make in their service to our nation.”

In February 2012, RecruitMilitary received the first annual One More Way Award from The Sierra Group Foundation. The foundation established the award to recognize people or companies whose support results in awareness and job opportunities for people with disabilities. The Sierra Group Foundation (www.thesierragroup.com/foundation.htm) is a non-profit organization whose mission is “to drive up employment for people with disabilities, including veterans.”

The U.S. Chamber (http://www.uschamber.com) is the world’s largest business federation, representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations. The Chamber’s mission is “to advance human progress through an economic, political, and social system based on individual freedom, incentive, initiative, opportunity, and responsibility.” More than 96% of U.S. Chamber members are small businesses with 100 employees or less. The Chamber’s strategic partners in its Hiring Our Heroes initiative include the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS; www.dol.gov/vets) and Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR; www.esgr.org).