Guard summit shows value of hiring veterans

The confines of Lambeau Field have seen greats like Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr and Brett Favre, but the country’s real heroes were the focus at the legendary stadium during the Wisconsin National Guard Business Summit. Corporate employment experts, officers from the state Guard and government representatives all convened on the home of the Packers in Green Bay, Wis., on March 30 to convey one message: that a veteran brings unique value to a company. The American Legion Department of Wisconsin helped sponsor portions of the event, and staff members from the Legion’s national headquarters were in attendance.

The inaugural summit welcomed around 130 business representatives from companies like Walmart, Oshkosh and Alliant Energy to hear how veterans make ideal employees, with their service-learned skills, discipline and federal insurance benefits that can help an employer’s bottom line.

“They come with great attitudes, great aptitudes, are very assertive, have leadership, judgment and are safety-oriented,” said Mike Hinz, vice president of driver recruiting at Schneider National. “These are all things any employer would want in a great employee, and they manifest themselves in our military men and women.”

Hinz, an Army veteran, was one of the employers selected to speak to other employers attending the conference about the value of hiring former military and enlisted Guardsmen and Reservists. A national leader in trucking, his company, Schneider, is a renowned and ideal employer of veterans.

“Our employees are a living testimony that there is life after the military, and you can find a rewarding career after the military,” Hinz said.

Brig. Gen. and Wisconsin National Guard Adjutant General, Donald Dunbar, echoed similar sentiments about the benefits of hiring veterans. Dunbar noted the unemployment rate for Post-9/11 veterans is currently 12.3 percent and “soft numbers” indicate that the unemployment rate for Guardsmen and Reservists might be above 20 percent. To him, the solution is showing companies the practical and economic benefits of hiring a veteran who often comes with specialized training and state-provided insurance.

"I think when a business man or woman sees the quality that can come from hiring a veteran, they are going to run and try to hire them,” Dunbar said. “It’s just a matter of spreading the word, and we are doing that now.”

Wisconsin Department Commander Denise Rohan and other representatives from her department were integral in arranging the summit and providing sponsorship. The department is proactive in finding veterans employment and hosts job fairs around the state throughout the year.

“The very first resolution to come to the National Convention in 1919 was about employment of our veterans and making sure that our disabled World War I veterans have jobs,” Rohan said. “It just seems natural that The American Legion continues through the years to make sure that our heroes are hired when they come home.”

Dunbar sees efforts like the Legion’s as evidence of a changing culture and public perception of our military.

"I really credit the Legion and the veterans who served in the Vietnam Era who maybe had a different experience with the public than the one we’re having today,” he said. “I think they’ve made a decision that things are going to be different, and they’ve really laid a foundation to help this generation with its connection to the American public.”

Ultimately, Hinz says some of the burden also falls on veterans to explain and showcase their service-learned abilities to employers who often have no concept of what it is like to serve.

“Be confident in who you are, not cocky, because you’ve learned more and you’ve experienced more in your few years or long career in the military than most people who have never served,” Hinz said. “But what is very critical is that you can put those into practical and understandable terms and stories so the folks you are interacting with in the civilian world can appreciate those.”