The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
announced that the Adirondack
Regional Chamber of Commerce has been
honored by Hiring Our Heroes with the
Chamber of Valor award.
The Chamber of Valor acknowledges the
contributions of local chambers, industry
associations, and business development organizations
that join the Hiring Our Heroes
mission of finding meaningful employment
for veterans, transitioning service members,
and military spouses.
“We would never be able to do the work
we do without the tremendous support of
local chambers and the Adirondack Regional
Chamber of Commerce is setting a
standard for other chambers to follow,” said
Eric Eversole, executive director of Hiring
Our Heroes and vice president at the U.S.
Chamber.
“The Adirondack Regional Chamber has
been instrumental in educating and influencing
employers about the great value
veterans and military spouses bring to the
workforce.”
Chamber of Valor award recipients submitted
applications to the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce Foundation to be considered for
the award. Applications were scored by U.S.
Chamber of Commerce Foundation staff and
honorees were awarded at the one-, two-,
and three-star levels. The Adirondack Regional
Chamber of Commerce is a three-star
Chamber of Valor award recipient.
“For the past 100 years, our Chamber
has been engaged with veteran initiatives
in various ways, and being recognized as a
Chamber of Valor by the U.S. Chamber is a
great honor,” said Peter Aust, president and
CEO of ARCC. “We will continue to focus
on ensuring our local veterans are provided
skill development resources, special
recognition by businesses and first-rate job
opportunities.”
Hiring Our Heroes launched in March
2011 as a nationwide initiative to help veterans,
transitioning service members, and
military spouses find meaningful employment. The organization said that to date,
more than 1,500 companies have hired over
25,000 veterans and military spouses as a
result of more than 810 hiring fairs.
In March 2012, the U.S. Chamber and
Capital One launched Hiring 500,000 Heroes,
a national campaign to engage the
business community in committing to hire
half a million veterans and military spouses
by the end of 2014. The U.S. Chamber said
that thus far, more than 1,700 businesses of
all sizes have pledged to hire 474,000 heroes
toward this goal. To date, 285,000 hires have
been confirmed.
On top of being part of the Hiring Our
Heroes program, ARCC also supports local
veterans by partnering with the Return
the Favor program. This program offers
discounts to veterans at participating businesses.
The Chamber has been a partner in this
program for a number of years and offers
discounted membership dues for veteran
owned business in our region. Recently the
Chamber strengthened the partnership by
cross promoting the efforts on their website
(www.adirondackchamber.org) and
creating a “Veteran Friendly” button so that
information can be easily accessible.