The SC&R Foundation formed a partnership in November 2013 with HirePatriots.com, an organization that connects veterans with employers through a one-day job board and permanent job postings over the internet. Since its launch in 2005, HirePatriots.com has helped more than 500,000 U.S. veterans find employment.
The foundation established this partnership in response to ongoing feedback from members of the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA). Many of these members own or manage companies with an intensifying demand for skilled labor as economic conditions improve at a time when baby boomers increasingly look to leave the workforce.
The foundation believes veterans can be a large part of the solution to the industry’s growing labor shortage. The unemployment rate for veterans who have served since 9/11 stood at 10 percent in November 2013, with 246,000 out of work, according to the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers. That jobless rate was the same the previous year, and it is a higher rate than for non-veterans, after adjusting for age and demographic factors. The rate is expected to grow as the military begins to draw down troops in the coming year.
The foundation’s landing page informs veterans of opportunities in the industry served by SC&RA members, including “welders, mechanics, crane operators, dispatchers, drivers, riggers and more.” Such skills are typically developed in the military. A link to the SC&R Foundation can be found in the member directory at HirePatriots.com.
Like the SC&R Foundation, HirePatriots.com is a 501c3 non-profit organization. All of the services of HirePatriot.com are offered at no cost, but the organization depends on the support of donations, corporate sponsorships and grants.
A posting for one-day jobs is free to advertisers, without any request for a donation, because these opportunities fill such a critical need for transitioning troops and veterans. In addition to helping veterans financially, these short-term jobs allow them to keep their heads held high, noted HirePatriots.com.
A standard job posting that appears on the Careers Job Board starts at only $25 and is considered a tax-deductible donation to HirePatriots.com.
Veterans can search for full-time, temporary or one-day jobs by keywords, category, city and state. There are no fees to the veterans, so they keep 100 percent of what they are paid. Typically, more than 1,000 jobs were posted and 150 resumes are posted online at any time.
HirePatriots.com and member organizations such as the SC&R Foundation often benefit from favorable publicity concerning the program’s achievements. For example, reports about the organziation have aired on ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, NBC and PBS.
“They volunteered to use their bodies as weapons of war and they’ve suffered tremendously from doing so,” said HirePatriots.com Founder and CEO Mark Baird during an interview shown on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams on Aug. 3. “It only seems right that we return the favor.”
For successfully fulfilling its mission of creating a nationwide safety net for U.S. veterans, HirePatriot.com has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Congressional Medal of Merit, the President’s Volunteer Service Medal and the U.S. Chamber’s Extra Mile Award.
HirePatriots.com is a program of Patriot Hearts, which also offers U.S. veterans a number of additional programs at no cost. Among these programs are military job fairs, vet-entrepreneur mentoring, military marriage enrichment retreats, financial wellness training, welcom home parties, community service chapters, school kid programs and more.
In addition to maintaining a Web page on HirePatriot.com, the SC&R Foundation is working with the organization on other mutually rewarding efforts. In March, SC&RA will offer a free webinar by founder Mark Baird on how the association’s members can recruit veterans to their company. Additionally, HirePatriot.com plans to have a booth at the Exhibit Center during the SC&RA Specialized Transportation Symposium in Houston, Texas, March 19 to 21, and the Products Fair during the SC&RA Annual Conference in Boca Raton, Fla., April 22 to 26.
For more information, call 703/698-0291.
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