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The Windy City got its first bite of wintry cold just as members of the Veteran Jobs Mission coalition descended on Chicago from all corners of the country for the fall 2017 meeting.

In attendance were representatives committed to hiring and retaining veteran talent across industries from among the 240 private-sector companies that share the collective goal of hiring one million veterans by 2020.

The convening kicked off with a special reception at Fred and Adolph's Pub overlooking the Chicago River the evening of Thursday, October 26 with welcome Remarks from Dick Leinenkugel who heads up the operation at the space for MillerCoors and then Ross Brown, Head of Military and Veterans Affairs at JPMorgan Chase, who facilities the Veteran Jobs Mission spoke.

Everyone met the following morning for a day-long conference on the 56th floor at Chase Tower for a full and enriching program composed of panel discussions, presentations and open dialogue about how best we can support our veterans as they transition out of the military and into the civilian workforce.

The main themes addressed included:

  • Veteran hiring
  • Veteran retention
  • Military spouse employment

The Veteran Jobs Mission (VJM) is the leading private-sector solution addressing U.S. military veteran unemployment. Since its inception in 2011, the Veteran Jobs Mission has consistently exceeded expectations. In 2011, 11 Fortune 500 companies committed to a simple goal: hire 100,000 veterans by 2020. Originally dubbed the 100,000 Jobs Mission, the companies in the coalition met this goal in less than one year. Building on this momentum, the coalition continued to support veteran employment and set a new and ambitious goal to hire 1 million U.S. military veterans. Since then, the coalition has grown to 240 private-sector companies and, as of summer 2017, the coalition has collectively hired more than 400,000 veterans.

In addition to committing to hiring 1 million veterans, recently the VJM also decided on additional ways to assist U.S. military veterans. As part of that initiative, the VJM established five focus areas dedicated to further impacting the lives of veterans and military families. Below are the five focus areas along with brief descriptions:

  1. Military Community Recruiting:Sharing best practices around the hiring of veteran talent
  2. Business and Employee Resource Groups:Establishing and advancing internal veteran support groups within
  3. Service Member Transition:Supporting service members during their transition to the civilian workforce
  4. Veteran Integration and Retention: Integrating newly hired veteran employees within a corporate culture and supporting their professional development and career progression
  5. Other Veteran Engagement Platforms: Promoting veteran employee wellness and other emerging focus areas to advance veterans lives in the workplace

Learn more about the Veteran Jobs Mission at: www.veteranjobsmission.com