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Veterans' Employment Committee
November 20, 2019: 10:00 AM45 Commerce Dr, Augusta Frances Perkins Room
Meeting Minutes from SWB Veterans Employment Committee MDOL, Commerce Center, Frances Perkins Room November 20, 2019 (10:00am - 12:30pm)
Member Attendees: Josh Brown, Performance and Accounting Program Manager, BES, MDOL, Bob Carr, Director, Technological Innovations, LLC, Mark Cater, Vice President of Branding and Engagement, Military Talent Source, Leo Deon, LVER, Lewiston CareerCenter, Aaron Dombroski, Coordinator, TRiO Veterans Upward Bound, USM, Robin Doody, Talent Acquisition Specialist, Northern Light Health, Camden Ege, Director, Maine State Approving Agency for Veterans Education, Jonathan Farr, SWB VEC Chair, J.R. Farr Handyman, Nicole Frydrych, Community Coordinator, VOANNE, Jennifer Giroux, GPD Case Manager, VOANNE, Jen Fullmer, Director, Boots2Roots, Mike Gray, HVRP Project Coordinator and Military and Veterans Services Director, Easterseals Maine, Debbie Kelly, Maine Director, Veterans Employment and Trainings Services (VETS), Bethanie Mazzaro, Volunteer Supt Technician, ESGR, Mike Merrill, Program Manager, VOANNE, Steve Roy, LVER and MHAV Coordinator, Augusta CareerCenter, Nate Russell, Public Relations Manager, Maine Student Veterans Alliance, Sarah Sherman, Director of Strategic Partnerships, MBVS, Darrell Stevens, Director, Military OneSource, Joe Tatem, Executive Director, National Guard Employment and Support Program, Fred Webber, Former State Workforce Board Chair - Consultant
Guests & Interested Party Attendees: Jesse Lord, Founder, Vets2Techs and Jon Skipper, Employment Outreach Program Manager, Vets2Techs
Staff: Auta Main, MDOL BES Veterans' Program Manager
SWB VEC Chair, Jonathan Farr: Welcome & Opening Remarks
SWB VEC Chair, Jonathan Farr: Round the room introductions.
SWB VEC Chair, Jonathan Farr: Approval of notes from September 18, 2019.
Guest Speaker(s): Jesse Lord, Founder Vets2Techs/V.E.T.S. and Jon Skipper, Employer and Outreach to Veterans/Non-Veterans
V.E.T.S. Veterans Education and Transition Services (V.E.T.S.) Is a project that helps veterans find rewarding jobs in the propane and oil industry. These jobs can range from technicians to delivery drivers to sales and management.
Their mission is to provide education and support to the propane and oil industry about the benefits of hiring veterans to fill rewarding career positions that include technical expertise, business support and leadership.
They are funded by PERC Propane Education & Research Council of New England. There is no charge to employers or veterans to work with V.E.T.S.
In 2019, 730 veterans and 1,300 civilians were hired by energy employers through the VETS connection.
Employers in the propane and oil industry post jobs at vets2.org
o See attached excel spreadsheet for a list of Maine Employers who are working with Vets2
V.E.T.S. is happy to conduct warm introductions if any organization in Maine is interested in speaking to one of these employers, to assist veterans with whom they are working. FMI:
Jesse Lord, Co-Founder, Veteran Education and Transition Services, (570) 575-4184, 275 Medford Street, Charlestown, MA 02129 Vets2.org Jesse@vets2.org
UPDATES - GOALS/PRIORITIES 2019-2020
a. Marketing to Veterans and Employers
i. Outreach to Employers:
1. Joe Tatem shared that the National Guard members will be gathering (around the state) on weekends early in 2020 for their healthcare assessments/PHA. Joe will work with CareerCenter Vet Reps to coordinate mini job fairs at each of these events, where they anticipate 200+ national guard members will be participating. Members are required to get their checklists punched off, including employment tables. Employers will be busy! There will be a mini hiring fair in Brunswick the first weekend in January 2020 and in Augusta the first weekend in February 2020.
ii. Outreach to Employers: The Maine Hire-A-Vet Campaign is about 80 days in with 20 days to go. Currently, 230 employers have joined and just over 100 veterans have been hired! A Hiring Veterans for Employers training will be conducted on December 5th at USM in Portland.
b. Education Employers
i. Veteran Hiring for Employers Leo conducted another real time workshop for 100+ members of the Lewiston/Auburn Metropolitan Chamber. He did this as part of a team with Tom Neal from Carbonite. Very positive feedback yet again. Outline includes: Military service, culture, ranking, skills, myths, why hire vets, recruitment, interview questions specifically designed for veterans, decoding of DD214, military skills translation, USERRA basics, CareerCenter services, and information about additional resources.
ii. Military Culture 202 continues to be in demand. Auta submitted a proposal to the SHRM Conference planning committee for Colonel Andy Gibson and Commissioner Randy Liberty to conduct a Military Culture 202 workshop at their May 2020 conference. It was selected! The workshop will be presented as part of a MegaSession on May 12th, from 2:45pm 4:30pm at the Samoset in Rockport.
c. Education Veterans
i. The Civilian 101 Training veteran sub-committee met in November and fleshed out the following details for taking next steps. Joe Tatem led the conversation at our SWB VEC meeting in November, presenting a PowerPoint with training highlights. SWB VEC members working on this include: Josh Brown, Mark Cater, Mark Cafiso, Joe Tatem, Auta Main, Camden Ege, Leo Deon, Debbie Kelly, Bethanie Mazzaro, Cheryl Moran, Josh Howe, Nate Russell, and Aaron Dombroski. After reviewing the Dale Carnegie Training outline, we concluded that the following topics should be included in a 1- or 2-day workshop for veterans.
ii. Transition, Soft Skills, Resume, Networking and Interview Skills
TRANSITION Putting stress into perspective, discovering ways to prepare for and address the challenges of making a career change, develop more flexibility, be open to change and opportunity
SOFT SKILLS Increase self-confidence, capitalize on your military successes to market yourself and build your future, be more approachable, apply time-tested principles to demonstrate the qualities of creditability, competence and likeability
RESUME Present credentials of success, break the hidden code of job announcements, understand the importance of proper formatting, effectively translate military experience into civilian skill-sets so that employers understand what you have done, focus experience on employer needs
NETWORKING Communicate well under pressure, speak confidently, diplomatically and tactfully, gain cooperation, use proven people skills to network with and motivate others, network to open career doors, improve your skills in building productive relationships, build your network of people who can assist you.
INTERVIEW SKILLS Energize communications, become more animated to energize and engage others, make your ideas clear and relevant, translate knowledge to communicate military experience and skills to potential employers, deliver a verbal resume, brand yourself as a marketable entity and leverage your resume to standout, interview for results, prepare for many types of interviews, apply tactics to stand out
Next steps will be to turn each of these topics into exercises and activities for trainees. Several of the SWB VEC Committee members are interested in serving as instructors for the training.
d. Veteran Friendly Employer Award
i. This SWB VEC subcommittee met in November and determined that at this time, we will not take next steps to develop another veteran employer award in Maine. The landscape is full at the moment with Maine Hire-A-Vet Campaign awards, ESGR awards, and the USDOL HIRE Vets Medallion award.
ii. The subcommittee included: Auta Main, Josh Howe, Cheryl Moran, Bethanie Mazzaro, Andy Gibson, Mark Cafiso, Nate Russell and Debbie Kelly.
e. Seeking Funding for SWB Committees & SWB Special Initiatives
*Did not address this at the November meeting.
g. SWB VEC Membership
i. The updated list will be shared at the January 2020 meeting see attached.
*Suggestions were made to reach out to the following to inquire if they might be interested in joining SWB VEC 2019/2020. Lets discuss at our January meeting.
- VA VR&E, Jeff Jones or David Young?
- Ashley Pringle, SWB Board Member, Vice President Operations at Maine & Co. and a Veteran
- BIW Staff/Rep
- Cianbro Staff/Rep
Mark Your Calendars for SWB VEC Meetings 2020 Jan 15, March 18, May 20, July 15, Sept 16, December 2 2020!
The meeting adjourned at 12:30pm
Attachments