U.S. Chamber of Commerce and RecruitMilitary to Present Veteran Job Expo in Mobile on May 10

PRLog (Press Release) - Apr. 10, 2012 - 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 the Arthur R. Outlaw Convention Center in Mobile, Alabama, on Thursday, May 10. This event, a Hiring Our Heroes/RecruitMilitary Veteran Opportunity Expo, will be part of a nationwide initiative to increase the hiring of veterans by producing special career fair hiring events. The event will run 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.

Hiring Our Heroes events are part of a nationwide initiative launched by the U.S. Chamber in March 2011 to increase the hiring of veterans and military spouses. 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 25 employers, franchisors, educational institutions, and government agencies to reserve exhibitor booths at the Expo in Mobile. Already signed up are The Home Depot, The Home Depot Logistics and Supply, the National Veterans Employment Program (NVEP) of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, DeVry University, Grand Canyon University, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Military Sealift Command, the Alabama Army National Guard, Baker Hughes, The SSI Group Inc., and Georgia College of Construction.

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 quality. 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 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 Mobile in cooperation with The American Legion (http://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. The national commander is Fang A. Wong of East Brunswick, New Jersey. Wong retired from the United States Army as a chief warrant officer in 1989. The Commander of the Department of Alabama is Jeff McNair.

RecruitMilitary has scheduled more than 40 additional events for 2012. Those events will take place in Atlanta (June 28, October 25), Baltimore (May 24, September 27), Boston (September 6), Charlotte (June 7, November 15), Chicago (October 11), Cincinnati (May 31, September 20), Colorado Springs (July 12), Columbus (August 23), Dallas (July 19, November 15), Denver (September 13), Houston (August 9, December 6), Jacksonville (June 14, November 1), Kansas City (October 11), Las Vegas (November 29), Los Angeles (June 21, October 4), Miami (August 23), Minneapolis (August 2), New York (September 13), Oakland (November 29), Philadelphia (July 26, November 1), Phoenix (October 18), Pittsburgh (October 18),  Richmond (August 16), Saint Louis (July 12), San Antonio (September 13), San Diego (September 6, December 13), Seattle/Tacoma (June 7, November 8), Shreveport (September 27), Tampa (October 4), Virginia Beach (May 17, November 8), and Washington (June 28).

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 36,000 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 RecruitMilitary 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 (http://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).

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About RecruitMilitary: This Cincinnati-based company connects employers, franchisors, and educational institutions with job seekers who have military backgrounds. All of the company’s owners, officers, and senior account executives have served in the armed forces. The founder and president of RecruitMilitary is Drew Myers, formerly a Captain in the United States Marine Corps. Myers founded the company in 1998. The company is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber’s Veterans Employment Advisory Council, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, and the Loveland (Ohio) Area Chamber of Commerce.