April Chairman's Column

John Hayes, New Tripoli Bank
Chair, The Chamber Board of Governors

It’s official, the Veterans & Military Council, the formation of which has been facilitated by Member Relations & Operations EVP Alison Pickel, is an official business council of The Chamber!
 
Bylaws have been approved and officers elected.  Thanks to Ron Jerdon, Jerdon Construction Services, for stepping up as the Council’s chair, Andrew Lawler, West Side Hammer Electric, as vice chair and Marilyn Kelly-Cavotta, Moravian College, as secretary.  Volunteers truly make this Chamber both special and work well.
 
The Chamber and the VMC are committed to support, honor and empower the men and women who have served or are serving our country in the United States military, and to build a strong network of the region’s veterans and active military in business, and to promote the contributions and competitive advantage that military members bring to any business.
 
Objectives of the council are to help veterans and those who serve develop and grow professionally, to create network building opportunities for veterans and military personnel, and to promote the attributes and the advantages of hiring veterans and military service personnel.

Military veterans are extremely capable and eager to excel as employees, but there are many companies who don’t even give them a chance.  This both is a missed opportunity for those businesses, needs to change as it’s the right thing to do.

When hiring, consider that Veterans value teamwork, are unbelievably resourceful, are the best at taking constructive criticism, and take tremendous pride in their work.

This Spring, the council will present the first of their Veteran Smart Series events; “My Battlefield, Your Office” with Marine combat veteran Justin Constantine on May 20th (see the display ad on page ___) and we’ll follow-up in June with “Now Hiring!” a leadership panel discussion on finding, hiring, training and retaining a veteran workforce.​

Both of these events will provide vital information and insight for HR professionals and recruiters and offer SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP recertification credits provided by Equinox Benefits Consulting.
 
Hooah!