ICM: So, if I’m hiring, veterans may
be a good choice as they generally
are motivated, intelligent, hardworking,
results-oriented workers.
There are also tax benefits, or other
benefits, that are available to me
through the Federal or State governments?
Skipper: For example, you have
the post 9/11 GI Bill which, once a
company becomes certified under
the Veterans Administration (VA),
a veteran can use their education
benefits for job training and they’ll
receive a housing allowance. The
company would be able to access the
education funds as they trained the
veteran.
Lord: It is important to note that
all this information is readily available
from Vets 2 Techs at no charge.
Some companies charge for this information
and I feel that is horrible.
Here are a few more examples of
programs available: every individual
veteran can access the Department
of Transportation (DOT)
Commercial Drivers License (CDL)
waiver form that allows a veteran
who had driven a sizeable vehicle
over a period of time to skip the
CDL driving test and take only the
written exam. Upon passing, the
veteran is issued a CDL A or CDL B
license.
Another is the Work Opportunity
Tax Credit (WOTC) program, where
every veteran that you on-board
amounts to approximately $4,500
in tax credits for the company.
You submit two forms, one to the
Department of Labor and one to the
IRS. As a thank you from the U.S.
government for hiring and training
a veteran, they assess a percentage,
and it can be anywhere from $2,500
to $9,800 per individual.
It may vary due to the level of
veteran unemployment at the time,
combat injuries, the length of the
veteran’s unemployment and so on
so forth, but either way, the average
is approximately a $4,500 immediate
tax credit.
The last one I would like to mention
is the TRICARE Reserve
Select (TRS) program. Individuals
in National Guard Reserve and
retirees from the military are able
to access this program. A single
individual pays only $46 a month
for full health care, including dental.
A family is $219 a month for
full health care and dental. For an
individual, that can be a savings of
perhaps $8,000 a year.
We do have a cost analysis sheet
and for a family it’s upwards of
$17,000 to $20,000 dollars a year.
That frees money for incentives.
A company can, for example, target
a veteran and tell them if they
use their TRS, they will receive a
substantial sign-on bonus. You have
the ability to leverage these programs
to attract and hire the best
candidates.
ICM: So between the tax incentives
and the TRS, that’s a lot of money
back in my pocket as the business
owner. That’s a real incentive to
hire. You mentioned the employment
rate of veterans. How big of a
problem is it?
Lord: The veteran’s unemployment
rate for 2018 was almost 500,000
veterans. We all would love to see
the number go down to zero. However,
just wanting to support veterans
because of their values or because of
what they’ve done for your country
really isn’t enough in today’s
world. There has to be a financial
argument that has to be a business
argument. There’s so much money
available to companies that are
willing to actually go out and invest
the time and install these programs
into their basic operations.
ICM: How does a company find
them? Do you help them sort
through that?
Lord: There are different routes
and Jon Skipper is one of them
through VIA vets. Vets 2 Techs will
provide all this information, especially
if it’s anything open source.
We will go out of our way to make
sure that the company has it. The
issue is truly taking the time to install
the programs and keep up with
them. Not every company has the
ability to invest in the research.
If any company is willing to put in
the work, we will absolutely help
them. When we started Vets 2
Techs, we had to sit down and make
Jon Skipper served with the
United States Army for 13 years in
which he served as a U. S. Army
recruiter for 3 years and placed
more than 70 men and women
for service with the United States
Army. Jon has also served as a
Cavalry Scout, Tactical Automated
Fire Control Systems Specialist,
Air and Missile Defense Crew
member, Human Resources
Specialist, Paralegal Specialist,
and a Recruiting and Retention
Specialist. Jon holds a BA in
Organizational Management
from Ashford University, and an
Associate Degree in Computer
Programming and Network
Operations from Pace Institute.
ICM/September/October 2019 5