Three organizations have partnered to sponsor a roundtable, The Value of Integrating Veterans into Your Workforce & Strategies for Mutual Success. Hosted by Exegestics, ICATT Apprenticeship Program, and York Solutions the event will be geared toward CEOs, HR professionals and veteran service organizations and will highlight the value of developing a veteran’s workplace initiative including creating long-term career opportunities and discussing strategies to ensure success.
The roundtable will take place on Tuesday, July 10 at mHub, located at 965 W Chicago Ave. Registration and a networking breakfast will take place from 9 – 10 a.m., followed by two panel sessions:
- Opportunities for Integrating Veterans into Your Workforce — 10 a.m.
- Strategies for Mutual Success — 11:15 a.m.
Victor LaGroon, Diversity and Inclusion Veterans Employment Advisor, will serve as moderator. “This is a timely topic, and I am impressed with not only the number of opportunities that the panelists provide veterans, but also with how the panelists have come together to help companies create an environment where veterans can succeed.”
“As a veteran I’m passionate about elevating the conversation around not only veteran unemployment, but underemployment as well,” says former Marine Corps Officer Stephen Olds, roundtable panelist and CEO/Founder of Exegistics, a veteran-owned third-party logistics (3PL) and supply chain innovator. “We’ve developed strategies to create more opportunities for veterans including developing HR/marketing materials that help translate and transfer military skills/experience into civilian job responsibilities,” explains Olds. “When companies are hiring, it’s important to not only showcase job opportunities but also provide veterans the opportunity to demonstrate they are some of the most qualified talent in the nation.”
Brandi Will, SVP of Program Development at veteran-owned IT consulting firm York Solutions, will also serve as a panelist and will share York Solutions’ nationally recognized returnship program, Barriers to Entry. “Sixteen percent of veterans are more likely to be underemployed compared to their civilian counterparts, and that’s simply unacceptable,” says Wills. “Our program helps veterans return to the workforce with an onramp for a career within IT. Veterans have an accelerated learning curve and triumph over adversity — skills that are critical to any workforce — we see this consistently and have built a program that embraces these skills, and so much more.”
For veterans striving to continue their education, the G.I. Bill is an important resource. “We know that four-year college isn’t for everyone, and a bachelor’s degree doesn’t guarantee a job,” says panelist and head of the ICATT Apprenticeship Program Mario Kratsch. “State-of-the-art manufacturers and companies driven by innovation are looking for talent. As a G.I. Bill certified program, the ICATT Apprenticeship Program helps veterans gain skills for an in-demand profession, earn a salary, and an associate degree as well as national and international credentials. Our goal is to ensure that veterans have a promising career path ahead of them and to provide a pipeline of talent to manufacturers — the backbone of the economy.”
To save your seat at the event, register on or before July 3: http://veterancareersroundtable.com/