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North Carolina Chamber Joins State Initiative to Improve Employment Opportunities
for Military Veterans and Transitioning Service Members

Complimentary Military Employment Summit Series
Launched to Educate Employers on the Benefits of Hiring

RALEIGH, N.C. –  The North Carolina Chamber, a nonpartisan business advocacy organization, has joined the NC for Military Employment (NC4ME) initiative to provide a series of Military Employment Summits designed to help North Carolina companies integrate military veteran employment into their human workforce strategy and to make annual veteran hiring commitments. The first summit kicks off on Tuesday, Aug. 18 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.at the Metlife Global Technology Campus in Cary, N.C. Industry, government and military leaders will come together to share their knowledge and successes in hiring military candidates to drive bottom-line business results. Registration is free but seating is limited.

Topics and speakers include:

• N.C. Secretary of Commerce John E. Skvarla III
• What is a Veteran?
  • Ilario Pantano, director, NC Division of Veterans Affairs
• Employing National Guard & Reserve
  • Major General Gregory Lusk, Adjutant General, N.C. National Guard
• Testimonials from Cisco Systems and MetLife

“We are excited to join NC4ME to offer local employers the opportunity to discover the benefits of hiring military veterans,” said Lew Ebert, president and CEO of the North Carolina Chamber. “Veterans are highly skilled, disciplined team players that can bolster any employer’s business but sometimes there can be a disconnect in communicating career credentials between the military and private sector. This event will help employers remove those barriers to hire qualified talent.”

In 2015, 27,000 service members will transition out of North Carolina military bases, adding strength to the 372,000 working-age veterans already in the state. These men and women represent one of the most highly trained and largest pools of talent in the country. However, thousands of North Carolina employers overlook this talent pool because they are unaware of the value that veterans offer their organization or the resources available to find military candidates that perfectly match the competencies they are recruiting for. By centering its focus on the “demand side” of the employment equation, NC4ME complements the vast number of programs currently preparing veterans for civilian employment and gives a much needed boost to military job seekers in North Carolina.

Additional events will be held in Wilmington, N.C. and Charlotte, N.C. later this year. For more information, or to register for any of the events, visit www.nc4me.org.

About NC4ME:

The NC4ME initiative is a public-private partnership designed to make North Carolina the number one state for military employment. NC4ME’s mission is to take an employer-centric approach to increasing the flow of military talent into North Carolina’s businesses by educating North Carolina’s business leaders on the value of hiring a military workforce, training small businesses and human resource professionals how to hire military personnel, and connecting military talent to open jobs, education, and training opportunities in North Carolina. For more information, visit www.nc4me.org.

About the North Carolina Chamber:

The North Carolina Chamber is a nonpartisan business advocacy organization that works in the legislative, regulatory and political arenas to proactively drive positive change to ensure that North Carolina is a leading place in the world to do business.  Strengthening the state’s ability to attract, retain and grow jobs is the Chamber’s highest priority.  Central to that effort are four “Pillars of a Secure Future” for North Carolina which include Education and Talent Supply, Business Climate, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Infrastructure and Growth Leadership.  For more information, visit www.ncchamber.net.

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