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Business & Tech

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Talks Veteran Unemployment

The senator visited the Institute of Research and Technology at Farmingdale State College to discuss the issue with veterans and business professionals.

Specialized job fairs and veteran databases were some ideas for how to lower the unemployment rate for veterans presented to U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, at a recent roundtable meeting in Farmingdale. More than 30 Long Island veterans and business leaders attended the meeting at on Feb. 22.

"Too many Long Island veterans are coming home to a very bad job market and struggling to find work," Gillibrand said. "They've fulfilled their duty to our country, and now we have a moral responsibility to provide veterans with a good paying job and real economy opportunity."

According to the New York State Department of Labor, 22 percent of New York veterans from age 18-29 are unemployed. Long Island has over 6,000 veterans of all ages who have served since 9/11 and 950 of them are unemployed. 

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Michael Donohue and Matt Foster, both unemployed veterans, attended the discussion. Donohue served in Iraq as a member of the National Guard for one year.  Since coming home in 2008, and despite training as a mechanic, he has been unemployed. Foster served in the same outfit as Donohue, has a master's degree in education, and has remained unemployed since 2008 as well.  Both shared their experience as veterans seeking employment with Gillibrand.

A concern raised during the meeting was the issue of veterans going back into the service soon after being hired and trained for a position. "Small businesses can't afford to hire someone, spend the time to train them, loose them, and then hold that position open for when they return," said Lucille Wesnofske, director of the Small Business Development Center at Farmingdale State College.

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Other concerns included the lack of communication between veterans and organizations searching for veterans to work and the issue of how training in the military differs from training in the private sector.

The concept of specialized job fairs for veterans was embraced by the group and Gillibrand. Another idea is to partner with the Yellow Ribbon Program, so veterans can receive information on employment opportunities. Using technology to help this problem was also brought up, like the development of a  scanning program that will pick apart a veteran's resume and place him or her in a job more effectively and databases that will store employers that are looking to hire veterans.

The meeting established that there are many different groups and programs out there to help veterans find employment, but that there needs to be better communication to connect all of them.  

"We need to work on coordinating better, so all of our services can combine to help match our veterans with companies searching for employers," Gillibrand said.  She d said she would return for a further discussion.

Some of the speakers at the meeting included Joseph Ingino of the Nassau County Vietnam Veterans, Chapter 82; Col. Robert Landsiedel, Vice Wing Commander, 106th Rescue Wing; Eric Farina, Director of Veterans Affairs for Farmingdale State College; Lucille Wesnofske, Director of the Small Business Development Center at Farmingdale State College; Rod Donnelly, NYS Department of Labor and Christopher Murray, Nassau Council Chamber of Commerce.  Everyone shared ideas and discussed them for more than an hour.

Gillibrand has a seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and is working with Senate Veterans Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray to introduce the Veterans Employment Act.  This will help veterans translate their unique skills into career success by expanding job training and placement services.  It will include the following:

  • Establishing a Veteran Business Center Program within the Small Business Administration to provide critical entrepreneurial training and counseling to veterans.
  • Creating pilot programs to test ways transitioning service members can build on skills learning in the military.
  • Establishing a Veterans Conservation Corps Grant Program and a Veteran Energy/Green Jobs Grant Program to connect veteran with green jobs on the market.
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