Metrowest Chamber of Commerce

The MetroWest Chamber of Commerce, local officials and civil service department heads from Framingham, Natick and Needham signed a covenant with the U.S. Army on July 29 promising to support local military and civilian personnel and their families by ”building partnerships that support the strength, resilience and readiness of soldiers, Army civilians and their families.” With Chamber President & CEO Ted Welte as master of ceremonies, speakers included: BG Peter N. Fuller, Commanding General, Natick Soldier Systems Center; Michelle Drolet, Chamber Immediate Past Chair; and John Stone, Chair of the Chamber’s Veterans Initiative.

 

 

At a Spring hearing on the “Effects of the Economic Downturn on Deployed Service Members and Military Families,” held by the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs, Chairman Harold Naughton explained the problems of affected individuals.

 

“Being deployed as a service member in such an economy comes with a unique set of concerns and challenges. When a service member is deployed, he or she many times leaves behind civilian employment Businesses and agencies are compelled to slash jobs and salaries in an effort to stay afloat. This makes service members, whose deployment. means a prolonged absence from their civilian jobs, particularly vulnerable to such cuts. Many veterans and service members own and manage their own businesses, which also face a unique hardship when the service member is deployed in already trying times. At stake are the military families, who already sacrifice so much for the greater good of the nation by their loved ones in uniform. It is our hope that a frank exchange of personal experiences and ideas will lead to some collaborative wisdom that will give our veterans and their families the tools they need to weather this current economic storm.”

 

Attending the hearing were legislators from the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs, representatives of the Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services, the American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans, and Massachusetts Veterans Services Officers Association, as well as veterans, service members and the head of the

Chamber’s Veterans Initiative, John Stone, of Natick-based The Computer Guys.

 

Stone is receiving resumes from returning veterans as well as job openings from a variety of sources. He’s also linking up with job placement organizations used exclusively by larger companies to find employees.

 

The agencies that the Chamber is partnering with in this effort tell Stone that the Chamber is receiving relatively few requests from veterans because “because most veterans will take anything, as they have been unemployed too long or their benefits are running out. The feedback is that the vets’ needs are immediate, and they are really looking for full-time opportunities, but will grab anything. Some agencies are concerned that an internship may affect or interfere with the vet getting full-time employment, as well as the fact that they would like to see some candidates placed.”

 

Stone has a distribution list of Chamber members interested in the Veterans Initiative—he’s sending resumes to them (as PDF files)—and a list of job postings. He’s now working with Paul Ritter, of InterActive Media Strategies, and Ann Krebs, of Commonwealth Creative Associates (a Chamber member offering its services without charge), to create a way to post internships, resumes and job postings on the Chamber’s social networking site (www.metrowest.org).

 

Stone says, “The focus is to spread the word. If you know of any good venues for getting the word out, or if you know of veterans, let me know. And if you learn of a vet looking for work, steer him or her to me (508-650-9917) or to the appropriate section of the Chamber website.”