U.S. Chamber and RecruitMilitary to Collaborate on Veteran Hiring Event in Las Vegas on November 29

Oct. 28, 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 Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Thursday, November 29. 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.

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 40 employers, franchisors, educational institutions, and government agencies to reserve exhibitor booths at the Expo in Las Vegas. Already signed up are The Home Depot, Lockheed Martin Corporation, the National Veterans Employment Program (NVEP) of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, DeVry University, Grand Canyon University, G4S Secure Solutions (USA), Northrop Grumman, Airstreams Renewables, First Command Financial Planning, Patterson UTI Drilling, Wynn Encore Las Vegas, Remote Imagery Technologies Inc., National Oilwell Varco, Cox Communications, International Academy of Design and Technology – Las Vegas, Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club, Ameriprise Financial, Military Sealift Command, DynCorp, The Art Institutes, United States Customs and Border Protection, Troy University, The Kroger Company, Travel Center of America, Northern California College of Construction, and Veterans Business Outreach Center.

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 work 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. “Employers can now get credit for hiring highly skilled veterans who have many years of civilian work experience," said Slagel. "Veterans like that are heavily represented at our Expos and in our database of job candidates at http://www.recruitmilitary.com."

RecruitMilitary will produce the Expo in Las Vegas 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.

RecruitMilitary has two more events remaining in 2012: Houston on December 6, and San Diego on December 13. The schedule for 2013 is: Atlanta (February 28, June 27, October 31 ), Baltimore (May 2, October 3), Boston (April 11, September 5), Charlotte (June 6, November 21), Chicago (April 25, October 24), Cincinnati (May 16, October 3), Columbus (July 25), Dallas (March 7, July 18, November 14), Denver (April 18, September 19), Houston (April 4, August 8, December 5), Indianapolis (June 20), Jacksonville (June 13, November 7), Kansas City (September 26), Las Vegas (December 5), Los Angeles (June 20, October 10), Louisville (March 14), Memphis (April 18), Miami (August 29), Minneapolis (August 1), Nashville (January 24, August 22), New Orleans (February 21, September 19), New York (February 21, May 23, September 26), Norfolk (May 9, November 21), Oakland (May 30), Oklahoma City (January 31), Orlando (February 7), Philadelphia (March 14, July 25, November 7), Phoenix (March 28, October 17), Pittsburgh (October 24), Portland (August 8), Raleigh (March 21), Richmond (January 31), St. Louis (July 11), San Antonio (February 14, May 30, September 12), San Diego (March 28, August 15, December 12), Seattle (June 6, November 14), Tampa (January 17, October 17), and Washington (February 28, June 27).

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 (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.” 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).