North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue has proclaimed the week of November 11-17 as “Hire a Veteran” Week. Employers are asked to hang signs encouraging vets to apply and to look more closely at their military skills.
“We owe that to these young men and women to try to help them transition back into the civilian life and back into workforce,” says Larry Calloway, Veterans Supervisor with the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Division of Workforce Solutions Office in Winston-Salem.
There are more than 770,000 veterans in North Carolina. Calloway says approximately 37,000 of those vets are in Forsyth County alone.
Calloway says his office is seeing more vets from Iraq and Afghanistan.
“What I’m asking for the citizens and employers of NC is let’s give these veterans a chance to get a job. There is also a tax credit called Work Opportunity Tax credit, so if an employer would hire a post 911 veteran, they could get a tax credit for hiring that vet,” said Calloway.
He says he will join Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines at his office at 11 a.m. on Tuesday for an event to raise more awareness about "Hire a Veteran Week".
