Marketing Veterans
March 20, 2018
Program Matches Jobs With Military Skills
Bried, a cavalry scout and infantryman who was deployed to Iraq three times while on active duty and in the Army National Guard, found a civilian work home where his military service was a valuable asset at Dynamic Aviation. The company provides aviation services to an array of entities, with the U.S. Department of Defense a major client.
The workplace culture was different from the military, he said, but the transition was fairly easy because many of Dynamic’s employees are veterans.
“I had to learn that transition to the civilian world,” said Bried, a 31-year-old Rockingham County resident. “You can’t tell someone to do pushups till they’re tired. You have to work with them, negotiate, figure out what drives them. In the military, punishment made everybody do what they wanted.”
Bried was hired just before Dynamic Aviation became certified as a Virginia Values Veterans employer, but he exemplifies the value many state employers have found in former members of the military since its launch in June 2012.
Fourteen Harrisonburg and Rockingham County companies are certified in the program informally called “V3.” Its aim is to keep veterans in Virginia when their service days end and help state employers tap into the skilled workforce the military produces.
Virginia has 500-plus V3-certified companies that have reported hiring 31,433 veterans since the program’s inception.
Marketing Vets’ Skills
Ross Koenig, program manager for V3 statewide, said the effort has been well-received in the Shenandoah Valley. At least 40 local employers are registered for Tuesday’s event, and some certified companies will be part of an afternoon panel to discuss how the program works and the value they see in it.
When men and women are discharged from the service, he said, about one-third return to their hometown, a third stay where they were discharged and the rest go wherever they find a job.
The program acts as a conduit between the job-seeking veteran and employers seeking people with skills they possess.
Jeb Hockman, communications manager for V3, said one of the program’s key components is training employers to properly assess how veterans can fit into their workforce.
“There are skills veterans learn in military,” he said. “How do they transfer to private industry?”
The Virginia Chamber of Commerce has partnered with V3 to launch the Hire Vets NOW program, with NOW an acronym for Networking Opportunity and Work. Events are held at military installations that allow service members about to be discharged and employers to meet and mingle in an informal setting.
V3, Koenig said, supports other veteran-employment initiatives, including the Virginia Transition Assistance program. Twice a week, about 2,000 veterans receive a list of job openings at certified companies.
“This is not a job board,” he said. “It’s putting more veterans’ eyes on your openings.”
A Good Fit
At Dynamic Aviation, about one-third of the 560-person workforce has some military experience, said Joel Shank, its vice president of human resources. Last year, Dynamic added 54 veterans to its payroll.
“We know the quality that we get through our veteran employees and will continue to have a substantial veteran hiring effort and veteran employee group,” he said. “We’re able to provide a better product and serve our customers better because of their efforts.”
Bried, a program manager who works with clients to make sure their needs are met, said many attributes emphasized in the military — punctuality, leadership, teamwork, task focus, working under pressure — serve veterans well at Dynamic.
Don Damron, the company’s maintenance operations manager, agreed. Seven of the nine supervisors he oversees are veterans.
The New Hope resident has more than 15 years in with the company after four years in the Army, including a stint in South Korea. He said the military trains people to be flexible, something that’s valuable in a workplace like Dynamic Aviation.
“The veterans that work here, they’re the kind of people we want,” said Damron, 47. “Many of the people we’re pulling off the street now, they don’t have that in them. It’s very refreshing when we can hire a veteran.”
Because so much of Dynamic’s work is for the Defense Department, Shank said veterans are a good fit for positions throughout the company because they speak military lingo.
The V3 program, he said, also has benefited Dynamic Aviation by providing training sessions about hiring veterans. At the sessions, employers can discuss veteran hiring methods with other companies to identify and incorporate best-practices measures.
Contact Vic Bradshaw at 574-6279 or vbradshaw@dnronline.com
Dynamic Aviation mechanic and Air Force veteran Andrew Lawson
reinstalls panels on an aircraft Friday afternoon in Bridgewater.
Dynamic Aviation avionics technician and active Army National
Guardsman Bill Musick of Bristol designs wiring for aircraft
components Friday afternoon.
- By VIC BRADSHAW Daily News-Record 3/19/18
Bried, a cavalry scout and infantryman who was deployed to Iraq three times while on active duty and in the Army National Guard, found a civilian work home where his military service was a valuable asset at Dynamic Aviation. The company provides aviation services to an array of entities, with the U.S. Department of Defense a major client.
The workplace culture was different from the military, he said, but the transition was fairly easy because many of Dynamic’s employees are veterans.
“I had to learn that transition to the civilian world,” said Bried, a 31-year-old Rockingham County resident. “You can’t tell someone to do pushups till they’re tired. You have to work with them, negotiate, figure out what drives them. In the military, punishment made everybody do what they wanted.”
Bried was hired just before Dynamic Aviation became certified as a Virginia Values Veterans employer, but he exemplifies the value many state employers have found in former members of the military since its launch in June 2012.
Fourteen Harrisonburg and Rockingham County companies are certified in the program informally called “V3.” Its aim is to keep veterans in Virginia when their service days end and help state employers tap into the skilled workforce the military produces.
Virginia has 500-plus V3-certified companies that have reported hiring 31,433 veterans since the program’s inception.
Marketing Vets’ Skills
Ross Koenig, program manager for V3 statewide, said the effort has been well-received in the Shenandoah Valley. At least 40 local employers are registered for Tuesday’s event, and some certified companies will be part of an afternoon panel to discuss how the program works and the value they see in it.
When men and women are discharged from the service, he said, about one-third return to their hometown, a third stay where they were discharged and the rest go wherever they find a job.
The program acts as a conduit between the job-seeking veteran and employers seeking people with skills they possess.
Jeb Hockman, communications manager for V3, said one of the program’s key components is training employers to properly assess how veterans can fit into their workforce.
“There are skills veterans learn in military,” he said. “How do they transfer to private industry?”
The Virginia Chamber of Commerce has partnered with V3 to launch the Hire Vets NOW program, with NOW an acronym for Networking Opportunity and Work. Events are held at military installations that allow service members about to be discharged and employers to meet and mingle in an informal setting.
V3, Koenig said, supports other veteran-employment initiatives, including the Virginia Transition Assistance program. Twice a week, about 2,000 veterans receive a list of job openings at certified companies.
“This is not a job board,” he said. “It’s putting more veterans’ eyes on your openings.”
A Good Fit
At Dynamic Aviation, about one-third of the 560-person workforce has some military experience, said Joel Shank, its vice president of human resources. Last year, Dynamic added 54 veterans to its payroll.
“We know the quality that we get through our veteran employees and will continue to have a substantial veteran hiring effort and veteran employee group,” he said. “We’re able to provide a better product and serve our customers better because of their efforts.”
Bried, a program manager who works with clients to make sure their needs are met, said many attributes emphasized in the military — punctuality, leadership, teamwork, task focus, working under pressure — serve veterans well at Dynamic.
Don Damron, the company’s maintenance operations manager, agreed. Seven of the nine supervisors he oversees are veterans.
The New Hope resident has more than 15 years in with the company after four years in the Army, including a stint in South Korea. He said the military trains people to be flexible, something that’s valuable in a workplace like Dynamic Aviation.
“The veterans that work here, they’re the kind of people we want,” said Damron, 47. “Many of the people we’re pulling off the street now, they don’t have that in them. It’s very refreshing when we can hire a veteran.”
Because so much of Dynamic’s work is for the Defense Department, Shank said veterans are a good fit for positions throughout the company because they speak military lingo.
The V3 program, he said, also has benefited Dynamic Aviation by providing training sessions about hiring veterans. At the sessions, employers can discuss veteran hiring methods with other companies to identify and incorporate best-practices measures.
Contact Vic Bradshaw at 574-6279 or vbradshaw@dnronline.com
Dynamic Aviation mechanic and Air Force veteran Andrew Lawson
reinstalls panels on an aircraft Friday afternoon in Bridgewater.
Dynamic Aviation avionics technician and active Army National
Guardsman Bill Musick of Bristol designs wiring for aircraft
components Friday afternoon.
