Governor Pat McCrory joined nearly 300 state government and military leaders at a summit today to encourage hiring veterans in state government. The summit was part of Governor McCrory's efforts to make North Carolina the most military and veteran-friendly state in the nation by connecting veterans and transitioning military members with job and education opportunities.
"We are bringing state government and military leaders together to discuss the importance of hiring veterans to support our military families and utilize veterans' skills to recruit and retain jobs for our state," said Governor McCrory.
Today's summit was put on by North Carolina for Military Employment (NC4ME), a public-private partnership program launched by the governor last year. The partnership has hosted more than 15 military hiring events and summits throughout North Carolina which have produced nearly 600 private sector job offers for veterans and transitioning military members. The focus of today's summit was to educate state government leaders and hiring managers on the benefits of hiring military talent.
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Secretary Cornell Wilson, Department of Public Safety Secretary Frank L. Perry and State HR Director Neal Alexander also spoke about the initiative. The Department of Public Safety's support of the NC4ME initiative has contributed to the hiring of 370 transitioning service members and veterans to state law enforcement last year. Since 2013, more than 1,100 veterans have been hired by state agencies.
Governor McCrory cited the initiative, as well as the creation of the new Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, for helping North Carolina's unemployment rate among veterans drop 50 percent in the last three years.
Under the governor's directive, NC4ME will continue connecting military service members and veterans with public and private sector jobs throughout North Carolina. The state is also working with special initiatives for upcoming correctional officer training programs at Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune and developing a cyber security apprenticeship program for disabled veterans in the state's Department of Information Technology.