Veterans Can Help Businesses

ICAD Group Co-Sponsors "Value of a Veteran" Event in Coralville

Rob Daniel Iowa City Press-Citizen

Military veterans can be an asset to any business if the employer is willing to put forth a little effort to get them, said Lisa Rosser, a human resources recruiter.

Rosser, founder of “The Value of the Veteran,” said up to 81 percent of military jobs can be transferred into the civilian sector. This makes hiring veterans a good move for businesses, she said.

“We have to be self-sustaining,” said Rosser to about 80 people Wednesday at the Military-To-Civilian Transition Conference at the Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. “Nobody’s going to come out and do that for us.”

The Military-To-Civilian Transition Conference was designed to help employers realize the value of veterans to their businesses, said Jason Kerr, veterans representative for Iowa Workforce Development. The all-day conference provided networking opportunities and workshops to help employers learn how to look for workers with military backgrounds, including the 35,000 veterans in the Corridor area.

“We are showing business leaders the value of the veterans,” he said. “That value includes the intellectual property, and the diversity of the veteran population. That lays a foundation in utilizing these veterans and their contribution to the businesses.”

Rosser said many employers tend to shy away from military veterans because they do not know how the former soldiers, sailors and airmen can transfer their armed forces skills to the civilian business world. Many veterans may have difficulty translating their former job titles in the military to civilian positions, or employers may believe the veterans do not have the technological skills or the professional credentials needed for the job.

The military personnel learn the skills or at least have the ability to learn the new position easily while in the forces, Rosser said. Much of it is paid for by the federal government and military.

“We have to learn those computers,” said Rosser, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve. “We’re highly trainable. We give more responsibility to the young person in the military than most 30- to 40-year-olds in the civilian world.”

Ken Ehrhart, a district manager with Farmer’s Insurance from Tempe, Ariz., said veterans’ experience with having more responsibility can help them move into the insurance business more easily.

“They run their own office, their own agencies,” he said. “They have experience dealing with situations.”