The Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University has partnered with Veterans Green Jobs, a national Denver-based nonprofit organization focused exclusively on putting veterans to work in the green jobs sector. Veterans Green Jobs recently launched Veterans Green Force, an outreach, recruitment and placement program exclusively designed for military veterans. Veterans Green Force matches veterans’ military experience and interests to the skills needed by green-sector employers, links them to training and educational programs to provide them with skills in key subject areas and connects them with available jobs.
According to James Schmeling, IVMF managing director, “The Institute for Veterans and Military Families is pleased to partner with Veterans Green Jobs to offer information and training on employment, recruitment and retention, assimilation and other corporate culture best practices in the employment of veterans. It’s also important to understand post-secondary educational opportunities, which may enable veterans to pursue careers in the green sector. These are directly in line with our mission.”
Veterans Green Jobs has signed memorandums of understanding with Student Veterans of America and Colorado State University, as well as several community colleges, including Bucks County Community College’s Green Jobs Academy in Pennsylvania. Veterans Green Jobs is also partnering with the Employer Support for Guard and Reserve, Employer Partnership of the Armed Forces and Colorado Hire Patriots/Rocky Mountain Veterans Alliance, in support of this initiative. Veterans Green Jobs will also work closely with state and federal employment and veteran support organizations.
With key startup funding from the Call of Duty Endowment and Walmart, Veterans Green Force aims to connect with 1,000 veterans and place 30 percent, or 300, of them into full-time green sector jobs by mid-2013. Veterans Green Force will rely on strategic partnerships with private businesses, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, professional associations and higher education institutions that offer jobs or training programs to military veterans.
The national unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans is 9 percent, and more than 30 percent for younger veterans, above the national average. In addition to the two million who have served since 9/11, more than one million veterans are projected to leave the military by 2016, placing increased demand on the civilian workforce. Recently, President Obama and Congress launched a series of government programs and incentives to abate high unemployment rates of veterans and put them back to work in public and private sector jobs. Veterans Green Jobs is the largest nonprofit focused exclusively on putting veterans to work in the green jobs sector. Its areas of emphasis include energy efficiency and conservation; renewable and clean energy; green construction and building; natural resources and conservation; environmental remediation and response; and sustainable agriculture.
“Green jobs offer long-term economic, social and environmental benefits to the nation and its communities, and help to achieve energy independence and security. Veterans are well suited and trained for these jobs,” says Bill Doe, CEO of Veterans Green Jobs and a career Army veteran.
For more information on Veterans Green Jobs and Veterans Green Force, visit http://veteransgreenjobs.org/.
