U.S. Chamber’s Hiring Our Heroes and RecruitMilitary to Collaborate on 50 Hiring Events in 2012

Partnership to Aid Hiring Our Heroes Expansion to 400 Hiring Fairs for Veterans and Military Spouses in Coming Year

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring Our Heroes program and RecruitMilitary announced today that they will collaborate on 50 hiring fairs for veterans and military spouses from April through December 2012. RecruitMilitary partnered with Hiring Our Heroes on 19 events in the program’s first year. The increase in 2012 will allow Hiring Our Heroes to expand to host 400 events in its second year.

“RecruitMilitary has been a tremendous partner since we launched Hiring Our Heroes a year ago, and we’re thrilled to have this relationship grow even stronger going forward,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Schmiegel (Ret.), founder and executive director of the U.S. Chamber’s Hiring Our Heroes program. “To make a difference in the staggering unemployment rates facing the veterans community, we need organizations like ours to work together.  I have no doubt that Hiring Our Heroes and RecruitMilitary can demonstrate to employers that hiring a veteran isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.”

“We are delighted to partner with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to help them accomplish their important mission of producing 400 veteran career fairs this year,” said Drew Myers, president of RecruitMilitary and a former captain in the United States Marine Corps. “Our partnership has strategically positioned us to deliver great results together at our Hiring Our Heroes/RecruitMilitary Veteran Opportunity Expos, and it’s already yielding big results. Attendance has been averaging over 475 job seekers; and based on exhibitor feedback on a recent sampling of our most recent 10 Expos, employers expect to extend 2,500 interviews and ultimately put forth job offers to over 1,000 job seekers.”

To increase the number of exhibitors and maximize career opportunities for the job seekers, RecruitMilitary will continue to offer companies that are members of the Chamber and local chambers a 10% discount on the cost of their exhibition booths. Additionally, RecruitMilitary will continue further price reductions for small businesses (businesses that have less than 50 employees), and even lower rates for veteran-owned small businesses.

In March 2011, the Chamber, in conjunction with the National Chamber Foundation, launched its Hiring Our Heroes program, a nationwide effort to help veterans and military spouses find meaningful employment. The Chamber started the program to improve public-private sector coordination in local communities, where veterans and their families are returning every day. To date, Hiring Our Heroes has hosted 138 hiring fairs in 45 states and the District of Columbia, helping more than 9,000 veterans and military spouses find employment.

Working with its federation of state and local chambers and public, private, and non-profit partners, the Chamber established a network of committed employers, large and small, that understand the value of hiring veterans and military spouses. This includes the 27 companies that comprise the Veterans Employment Advisory Council (VEAC) which represent 25 million jobs in America and have access to vast networks of millions more small business suppliers, clients, and customers.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.