Leaders gather for symposium to discuss Connecticut jobs
Posted on October 10, 2011
A group of leaders gathered for an event to discuss Connecticut jobs.
Alpha®, a national Veterans Disability Advocacy group, hosted a Hire Our Veterans Symposium at Alpha National Headquarters, Shelton, Connecticut on September 26, 2011.
Connecticut state leaders, including State Senator Carlo Leone, Senate Chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee, and Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman, were among distinguished speakers who addressed private-sector employers interested in hiring veterans.
“We were thrilled to bring experts from the Connecticut Department of Labor and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) together with industry leaders from companies such as Securitas, Adecco, and SSC Corporate Security Services to discuss practical benefits of recruiting and hiring veterans,” said Sean Libby, Alpha vice president.
The event was timely in light of President Obama’s introduction to Congress of the American Jobs Act that includes a veterans jobs bill to provide job-training programs for veterans and tax incentives for companies to hire veterans.
Over 90 percent of Alpha employees, many of whom are disabled, served in the military.These are veterans from all five branches of the military and who fought in the Vietnam and Gulf Wars, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“When we launched Alpha in 2010 we made a commitment to employ veterans,” said Allen Gumpenberger, Alpha’s director of disability advocacy. “We wanted to offer, not just jobs, but career opportunities for veterans, especially disabled veterans. In pursuit of this goal, we partnered with the Department of Labor and Department of Veterans Affairs and together we created a new program to bring in veterans and train them to become independently accredited Veterans Disability Advocates.”
The Alpha business model for hiring veterans is recognized by state and local leaders as a business success. Alpha benefits not only from employing highly skilled and committed employees, but also receives training and wage subsidies and tax credits for hiring veterans.
