CEG Launches Veteran Connect Center Powered by the Leading Veteran Employment Platform

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALBANY, NEW YORK – The Center for Economic Growth (CEG) today launched its new veteran attraction and retention arm, called the Veteran Connect Center (VCC). At a kickoff event at the Desmond Hotel and Conference Center, CEG also announced that the VCC will be powered by JobPath software, the nation’s leading veteran employment platform for transitioning service members.

“After they answer the call of duty, we want transitioning service members around the world to hear the call of the Capital Region. Now, with the Veteran Connect Center, our region can make that call loud and clear,” said CEG Veteran Committee Chairman Michael Swezey, a New York National Guard retired brigadier general and a senior vice president for Merrill Lynch. “In fact, we are already working with two military families who will moving here by the summer and another who is considering it.”

“With JobPath, we are opening Capital Region employers to an untapped talent pool,” said CEG Veteran Committee Vice Chairman Joshua Toas, a former Army Reserve captain and chief compliance officer and vice president of compliance for The Research Foundation for SUNY. “When you combine that with the Veteran Connect Center’s concierge services for relocating military families, outreach to military transition offices across all branches and our enhanced online marketing of the region, we have a solid plan for ensuring veterans continue to play a vital role in the local economy and help it stand out on global level.”

See the VCC’s website: www.veteranconnectcenter.org/.

A Model for the Nation

Justin Constantine, an Iraq War veteran and leading veteran employment expert, delivered the keynote address for the VCC’s launch. His presentation focused on the following key points:

1. The business case for hiring veterans and military spouses;
2. Dispelling myths around veterans in the workplace;
3. How to successfully onboard veterans to increase retention; and
4. Connecting with veterans through community collaboration.

While serving with the Marine Corps in Iraq in 2006, Constantine was shot in the head by a sniper, and was later awarded the Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon and Navy-Marine Corps Commendation Medal. In addition to being a Presidential Leadership Scholar, he was named a Champion of Change for Veterans by President Obama, and is a recipient of the Lincoln Award for his outstanding achievement and excellence in providing opportunities and support to veterans and military families.

“What the VCC is implementing is a model for what so many other communities across our country can do.  In the military we truly value leading from the front and also taking care of those around you, and that is exactly what VCC is doing,” Constantine said.

JobPath

TriCity Rentals/Massry Realty Partners are supporting the VCC’s license for JobPath. This software will give Capital Region employers access to the résumés of 200,000 transitioning service members and their spouses worldwide and enable them to do reverse searchers for applicants based on their Military Occupation Specialty (MOS) code. Transitioning service members can also look for local jobs requiring their military skillsets. The following 10 local companies tested the JobPath software and many reported being impressed with its capabilities: GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Momentive Performance Materials, Transfinder, Stewarts Shops, Fusco Personnel, SUNY Research Foundation, Columbia Memorial Hospital and Pinnacle Human Resources.

“For many company recruiters, aligning private sector jobs to military occupational specialties has been a challenge,” said Mark German, director of staffing for GlobalFoundries Fab 8. “With the launch of JobPath, veterans will be able to conduct reverse searches by military occupational codes to find jobs that best match their skills, knowledge and abilities. This will be a very valuable tool for both employers and job seekers.”   

“Armed with JobPath, the Veteran Connect Center is now a powerful recruitment tool for Capital Region employers and a bright beacon for transitioning service members and their families looking for employment and educational opportunities after their military careers end,” said CEG President and CEO Andrew Kennedy.

VCC Services

CEG’s goal for the VCC is to attract more transitioning service members and veterans from around the globe to the Capital Region and retain those already here by connecting them to local career, educational and community support services.

The VCC’s services will include:

Marketing the Capital Region to transition service members worldwide and providing relocation assistance; serving as the first-point-of-contact for veterans already in the Capital Region and connecting them to the local career, educational and community services they need; and training employers and educational institutions interested in employing or enrolling veterans on military culture to assist with attraction and retention.

“Bank of America is committed to helping our country’s veterans harness their entrepreneurial skills. Our recently launched Veteran’s Entrepreneur Lending Program and important partnerships with local organizations like the Center for Economic Growth are some of the ways we say thank you to those who have served. Bank of America is proud to lend our support in the Capital and Hudson Valley regions because, with crucial resources like the Veteran Connect Center, veterans have the power to drive economic growth here locally and nationally,” said Jennifer MacPhee, market president for the Albany/Hudson Valley market of Bank of America. Bank of America contributed $15,000 to the VCC.

SHRM-Certified Training

On April 11, the VCC will also host its first educational session on attracting, on-boarding and retaining veteran talent. This Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM)-certified event is approved for two SHRM credits and will be held at the Desmond Hotel from 8 a.m. to noon.

Veterans in the Capital Region

Throughout the region’s eight counties, there were 31,577 veterans between 17 and 64 years old in 2017, with 24,828 of them participating in the civilian labor force, according to U.S. Census Bureau five-year estimates.

However, U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs actuarial estimates forecast the ranks of the region’s working-age veterans to decline by 25 percent over the next 10 years. Such a decline in veterans could pose a threat to the region’s talent pipeline.

About CEG

The Center for Economic Growth (CEG) is the Capital Region’s primary regional economic development organization, with over 250 investors in business, government, education, and the not-for-profit sectors. CEG is a New York Empire State Development Division of Science, Technology and Innovation-designated Regional Technology Development Center and an affiliate of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)/Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP).

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