Virginia Values Veterans, or V3, a program started by the state in an effort to eradicate unemployment during life after service, has successfully paired 1,450 former servicemembers with jobs between July and October 2014.
According to Augusta Free Press, Virginia's veteran employment efforts have been paying off. The state is home to 550,000 former servicemembers, as well as the highest labor force participation rate for this demographic in the nation, at almost 70 percent. Much of this is due to the success of V3, which started in 2012 and was the first state-sponsored program of its kind. Over 200 Virginia employers promised to use the initiative to collectively hire 8,150 returning soldiers. WDBJ 7 noted that so far, over 6,600 jobs have been given to veterans through V3.
Virginia Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs John C. Harvey Jr. has made it clear that V3's mission is his top priority. According to Augusta Free Press, he sees the hiring initiative as a positive thing for both soldiers looking to adapt to civilian life and employers looking to gain staff with leadership skills who know how to work hard.
"Hiring veterans isn't just simply the right moral thing to do; it's the right business thing to do," he told the source.